This Time Around
by KazuSakai
Summary: Now that he thought about it, the Killing Curse's color really looked like the sky during the Dark Hour. - Ever since she first came to at the Dark Hour, she had these memories behind the back of her mind.
1. I

"What are you doing here?"

He was currently on the bench, sitting all alone in all his glory. The kind man who was with the nice grandma left him there about an hour ago and he has no plans of leaving that bench. The man said he should get inside when he felt he was ready but he wasn't anything close to ready. There were people inside, and being with people usually end with him being tossed into a closet and/or starved for a day or two; he preferred not to go through one at the moment. And his face still hurts from the trip at the hospital though he was pretty sure it will pass soon like always. But…

"Hey? You can hear me, right? Hello~?"

"Deaf? No?"

"…Maybe? Should I try again but louder? …Ok!"

…?!

Someone was calling. He turned around and saw a boy. A boy and girl. Probably his sister from the looks of it. She looked like the boy, same colored hair and eyes. That's nice.

"Oh! You aren't deaf after all! I'm asking what are… Hey! You're like me too, right?!" asked the boy. The girl beside him tugged at his shirt and hid behind him. She was peeking while keeping her body hidden, though the rabbit doll she had been holding was still visible to him.

He pointed to himself while raising an eyebrow. While he could understand the words the boy was speaking, he couldn't speak it without stuttering or making a mistake. Living on the streets for almost a month – was it really a month? it felt more than a month - really gave him the time to learn the language of the new place he found himself in.

"Yeah, you. I saw you came in from my room-" The boy with silver hair pointed towards the window on the second floor. "-and Miki wanted to see you. Well, me too; I'm curious as she is." The girl behind the boy made a peek and nodded through the hole created with the boy's arm. "Welcome to the orphanage! Forgot the name, though. It's a bit long. Name's Akihiko. This little girl with me is Miki, my sister. You?"

He gave Akihiko a confused look and shook his head. He knew what 'name' meant but he doesn't know what his was. A name was something he never had nor was given to. His relatives never spoke to him aside from 'boy' or 'freak', and ever since he found himself on the streets of the city, he knew those weren't names for someone like him; they were… derogatory? That was what the old man said once when he passed by him, mumbling at the things his uncle had said to him.

The signs in the new pace he was at also had English words on them, making them very helpful in teaching him that 'boy' and 'freak' weren't names but something more… describing? Yeah, he'll go with that.

"No name huh. That's bad… Wait. You haven't spoke since we talked? You can talk, right?" Akihiko inquired, leaning forwards to him. He shook his head and voiced 'I can speak' as he slid backwards on the bench, creating a small space between him and the siblings. "What did you say? Hm… You can understand me but can't speak…?" He nodded. "Oh! Why didn't you tell me so?"

He gave the boy a glare, making the almost white-haired boy apologize. His sister laughed lightly at the side and went from his brother's side to him, clutching the rabbit doll. She handed him her rabbit doll and smiled. He took it with a questioning look, reaching out his hand to receive it, and the girl beamed at him. Her brother noticed it because he stated, "Miki liked you. Well, I like you too. Come join us! You've been here for almost an hour and lunch is almost here!"

Akihiko grabbed his arm and tugged him while his sister grabbed his other arm and joined in pulling him back to the building. He tried to protest, the area around his eyes covered with band-aids flared with pain briefly, but the glare the girl gave him ended the complaint in his throat before it even had the chance to come out. She then gave him a smile and pointed to her rabbit doll, which was still on his hand. "Rena is nice. Play with us."

They passed by a couple of kids and adults at the garden, who gave them odd and suspicious looks but Akihiko and Miki paid no attention to it, before they reached the front doors of the orphanage. Akihiko pushed it with only one hand and looked left and right before speaking, "No one's here huh. Maybe we're late and they already started eating!"

Akihiko's grip on his arm was still tight but not too tight for it to hurt while his sister's grip was just too light to be even called 'holding'. It was like she was only touching his arm than making an effort to even do the action. Her eyes were looking at the rabbit doll he was holding so he gave it back to her. She smiled to him which he then gave a smile back too.

It was strange. Smiling. But she's nice and it seemed she and her brother have no plans on doing any harm to him. He then frowned. There were some kids that used to 'befriend' him but they soon became targets of his cousin. Maybe they'll leave him soon after the same thing that happened to the others will happen to them too? The small girl tugged on his arm.

Maybe not then…

He noticed Akihiko was becoming red in desperation…? He looked around and noticed there weren't any people in the building. Maybe they're not here? He closed his eyes and tried to sense the others. Handy trick he learned in order to avoid the nasty adults that were roaming the streets before he was found by that nice old grandma. She was nice. She gave him some kind of black colored food that was delicious.

"Let's go. The dining hall is at this corner, I think."

"No, it's at the left, Nii-san."

"Huh. But…? Are you sure?"

"…Maybe?"

He coughed and the two looked at him. He pointed to the hallway in front of them instead of the two hallways beside them. Akihiko gave him a confused look, which he then countered with a glare, before shaking his head. "Alright, let's go this way." The glare was pretty useful, best thing he picked up from the older guys at the streets.

Miki just smiled and instead of grabbing his arm before, she tugged on his sleeve. Akihiko had dropped his arm moments before he went ahead on the hallway; he was quite strong for a lanky kid like him. He and Miki followed her brother and they found him grinning in front of two half-opened doors.

"Hey, you were right! This was the right way to the dining hall! You were right!" Akihiko said, pushing the doors for them. He followed the boy and his sister and found himself being stared at by dozens of children of his age. All of them were already on their seats and had bowls of food on front of them. He looked around, tried to find a door or a closet to hide at, but Akihiko and Miki's hand grabbed his and dragged him to an empty table.

There was already food on it, some white stuff and soup, and a pair of sticks. Beside the bowl of white stuff was fried fish, which made his mouth water from the smell. Akihiko and Miki laughed at his expression: mouth open and drool almost dripping out.

"Thought so. You haven't eaten since you came here this morning, right? Eat up! The last table is supposed to help the kitchens afterwards," the silver haired boy spoke as two more kids went in through the doors they just passed through. The nice grandma that brought him at the orphanage then followed in and shut the doors. She began to point at the children while Akihiko continued, "Next thing we'll know is that you don't know how to use chopsticks." He turned his attention to the boy instead of the nice grandma and gave him a blank stare, which caused both Akihiko and Miki to gasp loudly.

"No way! Really? Here, let me teach you!" Akihiko then moved his seat closer to him, making a noise from the seat's movement on the floor. Miki did the same, causing some of the kids and adults to give them a look and a hush. Both of them paid no mind to it as Akihiko forced the pair of sticks on his hands and Miki did something to his fingers, twisting them around the pair of sticks in a weird position; it allowed him, though, to hold the sticks the same way as Akihiko and Miki did moments ago.

A clap and a loud cry or yell happened, and everyone aside from the three of them went to eating their food. He stared at how almost everyone in the room were eating without taking a part of their food into their pockets or taking the bowl and hide under the table or in a closet. Akihiko stopped him from taking the bowl of soup and plate of fish from the table by patting on his arm, a bemused expression prevalent on his face as he did so.

"Here, you move it like this and…"

Maybe he should follow the boy's actions? He'll keep a piece of fish later using the plastic bag in his pockets. And the soup. And the white stuff. Whatever that is, it was food since almost everyone was eating it. The kids at the tables near them were sloppily munching on it, scattering some of the bits of fish at the floor.

He almost want to go down and pick them up from the floor but the silver(?)-haired girl had pinched his arm.

"Oi, you paying attention? Hm… Oh! The food. You never had miso soup before? It's good but not that good."

He focused on his fingers and the way Akihiko used his hand to move the sticks on his own fingers. Imitating them seemed to be the idea so he followed the idle movement the silver-haired boy was doing as he was making remarks on the food.

"Nii-san. He did it," Miki said, catching him and her brother's attention. Akihiko spotted him moving the sticks and beamed. The silver haired girl grinned at him the same way her brother did and continued on bringing food to her mouth. Her food wasn't completely inside her mouth before she brought a piece of fish, at which Akihiko scolded her.

Akihiko huffed and returned his attention to him. "Cool! You learn fast huh! Then let's eat!" The girl said something but the food in her mouth muffled her words. She must be starving from the way she gobbled the food into her mouth. His stomach rumbled but thankfully Akihiko and Miki didn't make any remarks about the noise.

He copied Akihiko how to pick the fish off the plate and the white stuff off the bowl and placed them in his mouth.

It was delicious.


	2. II

"So by having this… you'll get this… Hm…? Shinjiro? _Shinjiro?!_ **Shinjiro!** "

He was about to doze off from the class but the shout that seemed to be shriek caught his attention, prompting him to stand up from his seat. Laughter was heard throughout the whole classroom as he got the entire class' attention.

"Honestly. Just because you learn things faster **does not** mean you can sleep in my class. Stay after the bell rang. We have to talk."

He rolled his eyes and went back down to his seat. The laughter and the chorus of gossip-mongers didn't end and he doubt it wouldn't for quite some time. Everyone liked to pick on him but they couldn't do it physically. So, they just went with the non-physical means, which were teasing and insults.

As if it would get to him.

The school bell soon rang and the students shuffled out of the classroom, leaving Shinjiro inside. He still packed his bag and placed it beside Aki's. His best friend got an excuse to get out of his class and left his things with Shinjiro. He sighed at his best friend's antics and wished him good luck for whatever shenanigans he had gone into. Sometimes he wished he was in Aki's class, since he was in a different section, but both of them had accepted the fact and just found ways to get around it.

In just a few moments, the same teacher that made him stay back came from the faculty office, carrying what Shinjiro assumed to be a class record, and sat down in front of him on a chair grabbed from the classroom's broom closet.

"Okay, this wouldn't be too long. I know you are a nice, smart kid and all but sometimes, you must show you actually pay attention. Having you sleep in class just demoralizes your fellow students and I couldn't allow that to happen. It reflects bad on me, and I know that you aren't a product of my teaching ways."

Heh… What a load of _bullshit_. She just wants him not to be in her class anymore because he could teach whatever lesson she was having to anyone and they would learn it faster than through her methods. It just shows how _lame_ she was as a teacher if she couldn't make him pay attention to her. Though most of the teachers in the school were just the same as her, somewhat lacking in terms of their mind power. And that's just sad.

"So here, I'm giving you a pass, alright? I won't list you absent in the class record. Just… get out, okay? Get out of my classroom. You're free to leave, _Shinjiro-kun._ Just… don't be in the classroom and sleep. It's better to have you seen absent, than me getting blamed for having you sleep in class. It would only tarnish my record and I can't afford that. You hear me?"

After that, she left Shinjiro in the room, leaving the chair in front of him empty. A hard shut from the sliding door caused it rattle, breaking the silence in the classroom and prompting Shinjiro to give a deep sigh.

The way the teacher was speaking his name felt _off._ Not that he was thinking she was just refraining from swearing instead of using his name. Although it seemed to be a likely possibility, he was more troubled by how strange to hear it being used by anyone else. Especially when they're referring to him.

He was just getting used to his name, to be honest. Shinjiro Aragaki. Unlike Aki and Miki, who both had families before they died due to a car accident, he doesn't have a surname. Added that he also doesn't have a first name and he didn't have any type of documents with him, he had to make a name for himself. Thankfully Matron didn't pressure him into getting one soon, unlike the other staff personnel of the orphanage who tried to give him a name. He doesn't want nor like the notion of them giving him one.

Always reminded him of the times he had been given the name of 'boy' and 'freak' by his relatives.

Being called a 'boy' and 'freak' ever since he could remember, he grew to inwardly hate words that had the same meaning to those; hence had to be creative. He pondered on it until both Aki and Miki decided to call him 'Shinjiro' after one of their language classes. Mainly because he was being truthful – ' _truth' for 'shin'_ – to those who asked him questions, though the ' _ji'_ got included because he often use 'next' to emphasize the next person who would ask him a question after the other. Or when he sometimes refers to anyone who wants to fight him after giving them a decent beat-down.

His surname was somewhat a joke and an insult _to_ him, but not _at_ him, at the same time because he often found himself in a fight at the orphanage courtyard against other children. Because Miki was his second friend, Aki was his first and best friend, Shinjiro and his brother was protective of the younger girl. She was sweet and kind and very helpful that other older and jealous children in the orphanage found it as some sort of weakness, which led to her being bullied behind her brother's back. But Shinjiro saw it happen one day and he couldn't stand other than him being bullied.

It was bad that he still remembered being bullied by his cousin and he sometimes flinch at being reprimanded by Matron and the older and respectable adults and teenagers of the orphanage; but to see someone other than him being bullied into giving out their food and toys all because they're younger, Shinjiro couldn't stand to watch and let it happen. So he punched, kicked and beat the older kids using the moves he saw the men from the dirty alleyways used when he hid himself behind a dumpster.

Of course, Matron and the other adults saw it happen and tried to deal with it but the older kids wouldn't be stopped by just simple warnings. And Shinjiro knew they wouldn't. The fights just became more hidden from the adults' eyes which led to him being called by other kids as a 'very rough fence' of one Miki Sanada.

And Miki, the so-ever-helpful little sister of theirs, played with the words and Shinjiro found it very fitting for him. Aki, when he learned of the things that happened when he wasn't there, was thankful for his best friend's actions and also commented that it fit for him to have that name.

His surname also reflected how the older kids saw him as a brat, though he would always gladly and proudly admit he was brat if it meant being showered with affection and attention by Aki and Miki. It just showed that he was being serious on protecting Aki and Miki from them, mainly Miki but sometime Aki as well; he can be a crybaby if he gets teased a lot by the older kids. Aki would deny him needing protection from Shinjiro but both of them know it was a two-way street in reality.

"A very rough and sturdy fence protecting us all," Miki once said to him and her brother. The two of them laughed at it, delighted over Miki's simple but wise logic. She was really something.

Thus, it led to him having the name of Shinjiro Aragaki. Or in the proper naming convention in Japan, Aragaki Shinjiro. He still has issues at times in getting the right way to introduce himself since he was not that used to it. Not that he would tell it to Aki and Miki, using the cover of silence to hide his struggle.

The doors slid open and Shinjiro turned towards them. The teacher must have more to tell but Aki was there instead, grinning madly. The silver haired boy rushed towards Shinjiro and gave him a hug, leaning over the table in front of the black-haired boy.

"Guess what Shinji!" Aki asked, excitement apparent in his face. He was _fidgeting_ and _shaking_ and was now using his desk as a platform for his _vibrating_ hands. "Guess what!"

"What," he flatly replied, staring at the boy with a red tee under his uniform. "And sit down before you break the table. You're pushing on it way too much," he retorted. He was teasing Aki because he had anticipated his best friend to act like that the moment Aki learned about the **news**. Though Shinjiro was absolute sure it was kinda obvious to anyone who knew Aki, which were Shinjiro and Miki mostly. Probably Matron as well but she doesn't count at the moment.

Aki glared at him momentarily before he changed it back to his eyes of excitement. "Really Shinji? That's all you have to say? Ugh, you're way too calm about this." Aki shook his head and grabbed Shinjiro's arms. He then dragged him out of the classroom with Shinjiro hastily clutching his and Aki's bag from beside his seat, where they're leaning at moments ago. Aki sprinted through the hallways of their middle school with Shinjiro following his best friend, a wry smile on his face. He had a feeling what Aki was glad about. No, he was **sure** of what Aki was glad about.

They soon found themselves at the front of the school's boxing club on the 1st Floor of the Club Building.

"Read the announcement, Shinji! Read it!"

Shinjiro shook his head and took Aki's arm, leading him back to the school courtyard. He didn't bother to take a look at the small piece of paper taped at the door. "Why would I when I already knew that you will get in at the start?" he said tossing his own bag over his shoulder while presenting Aki's school bag to Aki. "Didn't I told you before that you **will** get in no matter what?"

Aki rolled his eyes and scoffed at Shinjiro's nonchalant attitude. "Just wanted you to see the **actual proof** , Shinji."

"Why would I when the proof is in front of me, breathing down on me like a rabid dog without meat?" he retorted back, grin now visible on his face. "Come on, I have saved enough money to buy at least 4 extra specials at Hagakure for tomorrow. And Miki's already waiting for us at the kitchens. We prepared something special today."

That stopped Aki on his steps. "…You must be joking? For real…?!"

"We both know you will get in so we readied everything beforehand. Come on, let's go home." He walked ahead, grin still on his face, with Aki standing in shock at the front of the school's Boxing Club. Shinjiro was already through the gates of the school when Aki ran out from the main building shouting, "Best gift ever!" The other students scrambled out of the way of the silver-haired boy, confused over his sudden shout of joy.

He smiled. Both him and Miki knew that Aki wanted to find a way to be strong in order to protect his sister from the bullies but he doesn't want to do the way Shinjiro does, unorthodox street fighting. He wanted something more _formal,_ at which Shinjiro scoffed at Aki when he told him one night in their room, so he recommended Aki to join the Boxing Club of their school. Tennis was out because it was a girls-only club and there wasn't one for the boys. Swimming was also out of the question because of the fact Aki doesn't want to join that club that year and he just had Swimming back at Elementary. Shinjiro, on the other hand, hated the water mainly because he gets reminded of the times he was being submerged for being 'late' and he wouldn't dare to get into one unless it was necessary like getting a bath. And both of them despised the kendo club because the people there used sticks instead of their fists, which was a thing Aki and Shinjiro found laughable.

While boxing seemed to be informal at first, it had certain rules in employing its techniques. Proper way to throw your fist to accommodate the distance while saving strength and energy to evade an incoming attack, the right uppercut to do when your opponent is blocking at a certain angle, the varying styles of punches and more. Shinjiro preferred an unorthodox fighting style, makes his opponents confused on what he would be doing next, but he would find himself quickly exhausted from the

Using sticks in fighting, very funny. Though he won't admit to Aki, he found the idea of using sticks actually _terrifying_ for some reason but the sticks were much smaller and thinner. Like a magician's wand, which was _really funny_ when he thought about it harder. But he was afraid. He doesn't know why though.

While riding the train back to the Iwatodai Station and waiting for the bus to their orphanage, both of them traded stories on what happened that day to each other. Since Aki was in a different class than Shinjiro and had different class schedules, both had no idea what happened to one another during class time. Miki was still in elementary and her classes ended much earlier than theirs, which was why Shinjiro knew the silver haired girl was already waiting for them at the kitchens. Unlike her brothers, both blood and semi-adopted, her school wasn't part of Gekkou-kan Gakuen but just a simple elementary school on the mainland and was near their orphanage by just a few blocks.

Easy for Matron and their other handlers to watch the younger kids though most of them are quite mature enough not to be caught in anything dangerous. Both Aki and him would have joined Miki in attending a normal school on the mainland but they tried one day to get a scholarship of some sorts from the Kirijo Group, because Shinjiro heard Matron was having problems with money and Aki heard about a _scholarship_ with a _stipend_ ; hence both of them applying for one and getting a grant for their middle school and high school years. Miki would be taking the same scholarship test when she graduates from elementary, so both of her older brothers were excited when that happens.

When they arrived at the orphanage, Aki bumped by a man wearing some kind of _yukata_ , though in Shinjiro's opinion it was a bathrobe. The man had a haggard look and was busy searching around the area of the orphanage. That caught Shinjiro's interest because he had heard of rumors from his classmates that were civil to him about men kidnapping children and selling them to do some very _bad things_. Matron had told everyone of them to watch out for _shady looking_ people and the man Aki had bumped by at the entrance was certainly _shady_ enough. With that in mind, he decided to tell Matron.

He called Aki when they passed through the front door and told him to find Miki while he checked something with the Matron. Nodding, Aki went to the kitchens while Shinjiro made his way to the Matron's Office. Climbing up the stairs, he noticed that there was a lack of people on the floor. Normally other kids would be there sitting on the bench, waiting for their respective punishments while the adults and the staff personnel would be running around with papers around their arms and grumbling about the lack of budget.

That wasn't the case when Shinjiro came to the second floor. Using the trick he learned years ago on the streets of Japan, he tried to sense out if there are any people on the floor and found 2 people inside Matron's Office. He slowly tiptoed in and saw the door to Matron's Office was slightly ajar. There was an argument ongoing inside, based on the various rising tones Matron used to the man with an old sounding voice. Shinjiro listened quietly at the conversation and was shocked Matron was actually _denying_ an adoption request.

"- _erstand but I won't allow you to take a peek in_ \- "

"- _eir good, my old friend. It's for the_ \- "

But…that seemed to be…

Shinjiro knew Matron was fluent in many languages, something she had showed to them during their monthly movie nights, but to hear her speak _English_ with anger in her voice was something else. He creeped closer and tried to listen more from her argument with the stranger.

"- _know that something happened he _ \- "

"- _nt know what exactly you presump _ \- "

"- _ainst the International Stat _ \- "

"- _ck the Statute! This is some _ \- "

"- _tional and private you say bu _ \- "

"- _ve no business here so ge _ \- "

"- _st someone that is impor _ \- "

"- _ck again to the start and I _ \- "

"- _ut you see my dear _ \- "

"- _of my mind you old _ \- "

"- _ssure you it was not \- _"

So many things he had no idea about but Shinjiro was curious on why Matron was getting so worked up. It appeared to be a request but the stranger was 'butting' into things he shouldn't get into? And Matron was getting angry about it?

"- _ow dare you use that tone at me Al _ \- "

"- _ust need to confirm my suspi _ \- "

"- _one here is your kid so -_ "

"- _that boy who you picked up that_ - "

"- _isn't. I know the kid from the news and-_ "

"- _certain about it? I can check if_ - "

"- _cions my_ ** _ass_ **_. Get out of my office! Get o_ - "

He couldn't hear of anything afterwards because an explosion rang throughout the entire building, making Shinjiro's ears throb in pain. The black-haired kid ran back down the stairs when a second explosion happened, shaking the building completely that a few of the paintings and lights on the walls fell down in a crash. He gripped his beanie tightly as he braced himself on the staircase walls. A painting fell from the wall and snagged a part of his sweater, tearing his uniform's dress shirt in the process. He was about to pick up the painting and take back the cloth of his uniform, planning to sew it back, but Shinjiro then heard a scream from the third floor and he was sure it was Matron but he couldn't run back to her because flames suddenly appeared and a part of the ceiling fell down, blocking his way back to the third floor.

The part of the ceiling that fell also caused portions of the wall to collapse, making Shinjiro to hasten his steps back to the ground floor. Along the way, several more explosions occurred, followed by more flames to appear, burning parts of the walls and the decorations hanged on it. He needed to get out.

But he wouldn't. He was already at the main stairwell of the orphanage and saw the half-open door to the dining area. Shinjiro ran to the door and found the dining area was also engulfed in flames. How did the flames come to the dining area that fast? It was at the third-floor a while ago and Shinjiro knew it couldn't have _phased through the floors_ like a ghost. Outside the windows, he swore he saw someone was looking at the flames before the figure ran off, probably for safety. He couldn't blame them, even if they tried to break the glass windows, they couldn't. No one could because it was said to be _tempered glass_ so he instead of calling the figure outside for help, he went towards the kitchens, avoiding any falling light fixtures and burning parts of the ceiling.

"Shinji! I was worried for you! Help me! Miki got caught under this table during that explosion!"

Aki was pushing a steel table used in the kitchens off his sister whose legs were underneath one. Shinjiro huffed and joined in removing the table from Miki, lifting a part of its legs while Aki did the same on the others. Miki scrambled out of the heavy steel table to Aki, making his best friend lose his hold on the table's legs. Shinjiro made sure he let go the moment Miki had got out so he wouldn't be caught by the sudden pull of gravity on the table. A couple of 's _orry'_ and ' _thanks'_ were made and the three of them slowly made their way out of the kitchens, Miki plastered all over Aki's back while Shinjiro led his best friend and his sister out of the burning kitchen. The sight of the dining area was worse than before, making Aki and Shinjiro grimace in disgust. Miki luckily passed out on Aki's back as they sprint out of the hall and back to the hallways of the orphanage, since she wouldn't have the honor of seeing her only home becoming a piece of charcoal. The sigh Aki made as he looked over his shoulders let Shinjiro know that his feelings were the same as his, thankful that Miki wasn't able to witness the horrifying place the orphanage has become in a span of a few minutes.

The flames were now apparent and smoke became much more emphasized, which was something Shinji expected. Good thing Aki had the idea of using a couple of wet towels he had grabbed beforehand from a counter at the kitchen as some sort of protective mask. Fire drills were taught to them just a few weeks earlier and Shinjiro thanked the gods that Aki had apparently listened to their class. Shinjiro bet that the towels were prepared by Miki in case they had made a mess in making Aki's favorite pancakes. Though its main purpose was now non-existent, it still had a purpose for them. They were only a few meters away from the dining hall when they heard a loud crash behind them. Aki turned around and gasped while Shinjiro focused on finding a safe way around the burning parts of the ceiling and collapsed portions of the wall.

"We're just lucky Shinji. The dining hall is gone," Aki said in a low voice. Shinjiro's answer was silence, because he had nothing to say to that. What could he say when their home began to turn into ashes?

"This is bad, Aki. This is really bad." The two of them looped around the fallen ceiling fan of the lounge, avoiding the hallway they had went through from the front door because it was full of flames and a collapsed part of the ceiling. "What could have caused this to happen?!" He kicked a burning piece of a familiar-looking sofa away from him, making it tumble towards a blazing bookcase. Thankfully his shoes were sturdy enough not to have his feet be burned but Shinjiro felt it wouldn't last long if they couldn't get out soon enough.

"I don't know, Shinji. Let's just go." Aki hefted his sister closer to his body, waking her up. Aki must haven't noticed it because he didn't' gave any heed to her startled look but Shinjiro did. Without her brother noticing, he motioned his hands and gestured for her to cover her nose and mouth with the wet towel that was all over her head. She did understand his gestures and followed suit. "What's wrong Shinji?" Aki asked, voice muffled with the wet cloth.

"Nothing. Let's go," he replied, tightening the towel over his own mouth area. The smoke was getting thicker and from the distance he swore he could still hear something exploding. A wave rocked the building causing several still hanging paintings to fall over, parts of the burning ceiling to crash with contents that came from three floors above and him and Aki to almost stumble over. "Just a bit more and we'll be out."

"Hey, where do you think are the others?" Aki asked, looking back and forth at the corridors. "There wasn't anyone at the kitchens and on the way there, I haven't met the older kids."

"…Except for Matron but I wasn't… I couldn't…" Aki patted his back. Shinjiro turned around and gave him a hard look. "…Okay. Get out first. Deal with it, later. Got it." Aki nodded and he stepped beside Shinjiro, Miki giving him a confused and terrified look while clutching tightly on her brother's shoulders.

The front door was just a few steps away but before the three of them could get out, a strong explosion shook the building. It was so strong that Aki and him fell over backwards with Miki tumbling further back. Shinjiro paled when he turned towards Miki, he saw a wall of fire coming from the kitchen hallway. The gasoline tanks… The orphanage had several gasoline tanks for cooking so that meant…!

Aki must have thought the same thing as him because he joined Shinjiro in scrambling towards her sister but they were stopped by Miki throwing a vase near her at them. Aki protested but using a fallen portrait of the entire orphanage's children, Miki had completely created a significant distance between her and them.

"Leave me. Too late. Be safe."

The _fuck…?_ No way in _hell_ would he allow that to happen. He tried to sprint but Aki, that blockhead, grabbed his arms and dragged him through the doors. Shinjiro was about to shout at Aki ' _how could he?!'_ but he saw his best friend staring at Miki with bulging eyes and tears quickly drying on his cheeks. He gaped at his best friend trying hard not to cry as they ran out of the orphanage. He made a last look back inside and saw Miki giving them a smile as flames ate her body slowly from the back in a cloud of red and orange.

It was like time slowed down for him and Aki because their steps were slower but he knew it was just his perception. Shinjiro could tell Aki also turned around at the last second because he could see his head tilted at the right angle for him to see what's behind him while running. Both of them could see every detail of Miki being eaten by the red orange cloud of flames, they could see her smiling despite the tears slowly rolling her cheeks, they could see her eyes shouting _'I'm fine'_ but the small tremors her body did screams ' _help me'_. Then everything went super fast, he and his best friend got through the doors but were thrown by the explosion that happened. Shinjiro swore he saw Miki mouthed a ' _take care'_ before he was thrown away.

A stream of flame burst through the windows of the orphanage and even through the doors but all Shinjiro could focus on was the non-existent sight of Miki through the blaze from the orphanage's front doors. Aki was beside him and he noticed his best friend has burns all over his body, at his arms and legs, and soot around his face. But his eyes, they were leaking.

He felt wet.

Shinjiro placed his hand on his cheek. It's wet.

…Oh.

He was crying.


	3. III

There were police and some reporters that appeared at the orphanage later that evening. He couldn't remember anything much that happened afterwards except for him gripping Aki's hands like it was the only thing that was keeping him alive. Aki also had the same idea because his grip on his hand was just strong as his.

That night though, he remembered clearly, because once again he felt being afraid for his life. The same feeling he had grown accustomed to everytime he was in England and he thought he had outgrown already; the feeling whenever he had to duck under the stairs or hide inside a trash can from his uncle and cousin. Shinjiro had long accepted that somehow, his uncle had taken him while he was asleep to Japan. Maybe he had some job in Japan that he had the chance to discard him for good at Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Japan. But he was thankful for that chance thought his uncle had. It certainly allowed Shinjiro to think that it was a blessing or even a divine intervention made by the gods for him. He was **absolutely** better off in Japan than back at England.

However, the feeling of dread had returned after 4 years and it came back with a drastic change in scenery. He woke up in the middle of the night to take an emergency trip to the toilet when everything turned dark and blood started to leak at the walls. He turned around and saw through the windows an impossible sight, a supersized large moon in its full glory. It was scary and outright impossible because the moon **isn't that near** to Earth and **couldn't** be at it current location; he remembered how the moon would pull the water up near it, causing high tides, which caused Shinjiro to worry immediately. Forgoing to take a piss at all and scrambling back to whatever room he and Aki were placed for the night, he ran out of the comfort room, taking notice of the large coffins that were at the positions people stood previously.

There was some kind of scream running through his head but he ignored it, burying it deep in his mind, and focused on getting back to their room. He found their room after several tries because of the lack of lighting, not even the glow of the large moon from the windows could have help.

He ran even faster when he noticed something flowing down the walls, he also stepped on a puddle in his run and almost slipped. Planting his hand on a nearby wall, he stopped to steady himself only to be shocked when the liquid that was dripping on the walls reached his hands and they were completely red. Shinjiro looked down and saw the puddle a couple of meters away from him was also red and the footmarks he had created unknowingly on the floor were stained red.

With a harsh wipe on the wall, he shook his hands afterwards and rushed towards the last room in the corridor he was in. Lightly but surely, he managed to open the door without making a creak; the very dim light of the moon outside the windows managing to help him at the last second in his attempts to open it.

Shinjiro gave out a sigh of relief when he found Aki still sleeping on the bed, face in a completely serious expression, eyes closed tightly and arms stiffly tucked at his side above the blanket on him.

Aki would usually do that whenever he had nightmares, bracing the nightmare head-on rather than forcefully escaping to wakefulness; instead of getting back beside his best friend, he sat down on the bed and waited. Waited for Aki to toss and turn, make a mess on the sheets by gripping the covers and making motions that he doesn't even think it was possible to do on a bed. Not even a minute and Aki began to fumble around. He couldn't do a thing about it because if he woke Aki up, he would just be thrown into this… green night with blood stained walls and it was just taking all of Shinjiro's concentration **not** to freak out at the sight. He couldn't handle with Aki freaking out, especially when Miki…

Shinjiro turned away temporarily his eyes on Aki and stared at the corner of their room. The red liquid was flowing from a hole on the wall and it was bright red, like it came from a fresh wound. Blood was something he was familiar with, with him taking care of his bloodied fingers after they're broken by his aunt's frying pan and his skin had torn apart by the force and the tears accidentally made by his bones of his fingers breaking apart; with him taking care of his bleeding wounds on his arms and legs after his cousin had used his sharp pencils to throw at him because it had pierced his arms and the teachers and his fellow students won't even make a glance at him for some reason; and with him bandaging his wounded legs after his uncle had thrown the sharp edge of his car keys at him one day with a torn part of his clothes, all because he forgot to take out the trash. He had to sneak out of the cupboard and get some kind of medicine from the medicine cabinet that night because of the shivers he had, which taught him on previous situations that he got a fever or an infection of some sort from the wounds. Again.

Because of the situation they were in, he stayed and helped Aki not to fall from the bed and wake up; it would only worsen his best friend's condition if he saw what he was seeing and experiencing. Shinjiro felt it took about an hour before he noticed everything returned back into the bustle of the city he got used to for 4 years. He took in his surroundings and took almost all of his strength not to gasp. Everything was back to what it was before it changed.

No more greenish tinge of the sky and the impossible large moon outside. No more blood flowing down the walls and the floor. He went out and took a peek at the corner of the corridor and the coffins were no more. No more coffins replacing people. Just people again.

But the screaming in his head was still there, just… It was just muted. Lessened. Quieter. It was still there but unless he focused on it, he wouldn't notice it. He gripped his head and made his way back to their room.

Aki seemed to have calmed down so he slowly left the room and went back to the comfort room. He still had to take a piss. Passing by the people he had passed by an hour ago, Shinjiro noticed they gave him a weird look and one asked him how did he got back to his room in a span of a minute. He just replied with a flat 'what' and that was the end of it.

He went back to their room after that and he was glad Aki had finally fallen sound asleep again. Shinjiro slowly went back under the blankets and gripped the silver haired boy's arms. Subconsciously or not, Aki did the same after a few moments, with them clutching at each other.

Aki was warm. He felt safe. Though Shinjiro was sure Aki will have nightmares the next days, he was still the same Aki Shinjiro had found himself wanting of. Unlike the hour of darkness and shadows before.


	4. IV

For a very odd and unexplained reason, he and Aki soon found themselves being moved from the dilapidated shack the government had thrown them at to a dormitory near Iwatodai Station that was occupied by only a single resident. The thing about the move was that it was certainly not unexpected, for it was a given they would be transferred to another orphanage from the hands of the police, but the actual location they were moving to. It was so different to the place he and Aki had been staying at ever since the fire happened, the place was alright if it was meant for just existing. It had no pests whatsoever but it just wasn't right, which was also expected for a temporary housing for those under the jurisdiction of the police.

Something about the place being a 'safe house' for those under the ' _witness protection program'._ It didn't bother Shinjiro and Aki a bit, except for the fact it was situated at a place Matron once regarded as a ' _raunchy'_ part of their neighborhood.

Whatever that meant.

The dormitory they were moved to by some people belonging to the Kirijo Group was a 4-storey building with a rooftop that could be used as a place to hang laundry or place plants for a small garden. It was **very** large for just three people, which made Aki remark that it was meant to occupy more than them. Both of them had lost almost all of their belongings except the ones they had on their persons that day, so the luggage the two brothers in all but blood brought was minimal at best. All in all, it was nice to have an appropriate place to stay at though there was something pestering Shinjiro's mind on that afternoon.

They haven't met that single resident the people who helped them moved said to lived at the dormitory ever since they moved in. All Shinjiro knew that the resident was a female, she was a student just like them and that she would want to live _independently_ to a certain extent. Though unlike Aki, who sometimes forgot meat isn't something one must live off on and had to be removed physically from the table when anything meat was being served, a _subtle_ indication of his attention span, Shinjiro had a feeling he knew who was their secret dorm mate. Their new place of residence had all the clues for him to piece it all up.

Apparently, the moment Aki and him successfully gained the scholarships, they were automatically 'wards' of the Kirijo Group; the man who helped them move in said they were and according to him, they were their scholars and their scholarships _had_ a clause for **technical** orphans. The dormitory was also paid and supplied by the same conglomerate. It also had several security cameras, which were almost like the ones he saw at Paulownia Mall and, strangely enough, parts of Tatsumi Port Island streets, making both of the boys feel confident that the Kirijo Group employee was being serious in his words of them being their 'wards'.

Suspiciously, Shinjiro could help but notice there was some sort of hard technology on the fourth floor, giving him an idea there was some sort of reason why the two of them were moved into that specific dormitory. There were **tons** of dormitories owned by the school _and_ the Kirijo Group, ranging from co-ed, girl and boy only dorms, to semi-apartment-styled buildings. Why them and why at that specific place? The machinery at the fourth floor looked like something out of a science-fiction movie, giving Shinjiro some very disturbing thoughts of them being tested while asleep.

Their school had some _pretty_ _ **fucked-up**_ rumors that originated way back the time it was established. About how they were experiments being done at the basements of the school, recruiting unsuspecting students with the lies of them getting a easy way into college, only to never see the break of dawn; it made Shinjiro laugh at first because _how would the rumors be real if the_ _ **no one**_ _survived_ but with the _Dark Hour_ happening every night since the fire, he began to doubt.

Well, Shinjiro had **doubts** that the machinery he discovered on the fourth floor had **no** involvement in some sci-fi bullshit. In fact, he was sure it was used for **real** sci-fi bullshit. It was a fact that the graduates and employees of the Kirijo Group were one of the greatest contributors in modern technology and life, the man-made island where their Academy was situated at was a blatant proof of that fact.

With all of the 'evidence' he had found, their mysterious dorm-mate was someone important; someone that would need some sort of protection despite the person's qualms of being protected, someone that would have connections that an organization that could supply the **hard technology** at the fourth floor, someone that **is** important to the Kirijo Group, and it all pointed to one Mitsuru Kirijo.

The first indication was the actual presence of a person living on the 2nd floor of the dormitory and according to the floor plans at the lounge's front desk, the 2nd floor was the Girl's Floor. The second indication was the innumerable rumors surrounding Mitsuru Kirijo.

The daughter of the current CEO of the Kirijo Group and the current President of Gekkou-kan Gakuen Middle School Student Government. Which was a wonder for everyone, including Shinjiro, that a young girl had that enough charisma to pull it off at 1st year. It was said that for some reason, Mitsuru-san was involved in something _important_ that she had to get out of her home and had to move somewhere else. Permanently.

Rumors went out that she was being disinherited, which was laughable because she's an **only** child, _gender be damned_ ; being replaced with someone else was also up in the air, which was very unlikely because as far as he knew, the current CEO had no relatives to nominate; or she had eloped with someone she loved, though the last one broke hearts and caused his best friend an aghast expression when he heard it. He took a shot of that for future purposes, blackmail was the highest competitor for the things he had to get currently. Only if the picture had captions, for his reaction was absolutely priceless.

" _Wouldn't she get hungry from that? That thing costs a lot of money!_ " Typical Aki. Completely missing the point though Shinjiro wondered how in the world did Aki got the idea of getting married costs a lot of money. Probably from the evening news. The stuff being showed at the 7 pm news was weird. Something about a platypus was the last thing he remembered watching before switching to reading cooking magazines that night.

Still, with her being their dorm mate or not, it still doesn't change the fact that he and Aki were practically orphans, both in the literal and figurative sense. And with Aki being in the Boxing Club, he couldn't take a part-time job to boost their allowances. The stipend they got from being scholars of the Kirijo Group were enough to pay for their daily needs, though Shinjiro had questions whether he and Aki had to pay for their lodging, and he was certain it was closely being watched at. So it all fell to him to take up a part-time job to help his and Aki's situation. He had planned to take one the year after, with him still being a freshman and all, but with the way his cards were served, Shinjiro decided to do it earlier than he expected.

After signing out on the sign-in sheet at the dorm's lounge, he made his way to Iwatodai Strip Mall and ducked under the Hagakure Ramen shop's entrance curtain. The man who owned the shop saw him enter and greeted him, which he then countered with a wave. Godou-san knew him and Aki ever since they were 8, the first time they went here was with Miki and…

Shinjiro quickly dismissed the thought in his head. It wouldn't do if he got too distracted when he was starting his job. He thanked the gods that Godou-san allowed him to be his 'apprentice' at the Ramen shop. Years of cooking for his relatives had Shinjiro accustomed to the heat and flow of the kitchen area, and the short… time he had in the orphanage's kitchen with the staff gave him essential knowledge on what he should be doing in front of the stove. Although ramen is being sold in the shop, it didn't mean it was the _only_ type of food being sold there. That was where Shinjiro comes in. He would handle the ramen while Godou-san would handle the other 'unique' dishes being offered in his establishment.

Some were even secret to the public, only available to those who were given a heads up by the owner, like him. The Special was the thing that persuaded Shinjiro to plea at Godou-san in teaching him to make it.

"Aragaki-kun, glad you came in time. I was worried." The man gave him wry smirk and tossed an apron at him. It was plain white and quite long, _if_ Aki was the one to wear it or his 8 year-old-self. For the past 2 years, he had shot like a weed, all thanks to the nutrients his body had absorbed from the food at the orphanage. He knew he was being starved by his relatives but to fully understand its complete consequences was something else, much more to see that he wasn't supposed to be a short kid. Aki had been grumpy during those times when he was being stretched like a rubber band, only to realize that he was not returning to the short thin kid he used to be, all because he expected to be the taller kid than Shinjiro; he later had accepted it and sought a different avenue to 'overcome' him, which then led him to joining the Boxing Club.

Typical Aki.

He wore the handed apron and tied it around his waist. He didn't bother to remove his turtleneck sweater nor his beanie on his head, even with the steam coming from the boiling stock didn't made him sweat. It was… sentimental. And it also helps in protecting him from getting burned at parts where hot oil and water shouldn't get to.

It was also a very comfortable feeling to wear thick clothes for a change, given that he never got any new clothes before. When he did, it would be rags or super thin second hands by his cousin. The orphanage may have supplied them clothes to wear but it was a requirement, a necessity. Not a gift.

Besides, both Miki and Aki picked those clothes for him and he became partial to them ever since. It became his trademark, much like Aki's red vests, sweaters, scarves, gloves and shirts. And the beanie pretty much discourages any stupid _punk_ who wants to have a fight with him. Not to mention, the turtleneck sweater felt _amazing_ and the overcoat looked cool.

"Okay, so here we boil this… And then… Pass that here? Thanks. Oh, and you must…"

He followed Godou-san's instructions, allowing his body to follow the motions honed by years of daily kitchen duties, permitting his mind to focus on his current situation.

It was about a month since the fire, 3 weeks spent at some place that sometimes barely qualified as habitable. A couple of days and it would a month since she…

He shifted his attention to the pot and hasten stirring it with his ladle.

While Shinjiro focused his attention on getting a part-time job in order to sustain their allowances, Aki focused on his Boxing Club meetings and training his own body. Last he heard, Aki would be sent to the Prefectural Boxing Competition about a week later and he was busy training. Shinjiro doesn't know what to do with his best friend. Should he be proud of his best friend because he made to a competition where 2nd and 3rd year students were the common sight, and he's still a freshman, a 1st year greenhorn? Or to be worried sick for Aki, since it was blatantly obvious to anyone that he had thrown his whole mind and body to the club?

It was grating on his nerves that Aki found the gods-be-damned protein shakes one day during their weekly grocery shopping. Shinjiro had to resort in planting vitamins and other nutritional supplements to Aki's food whenever he cooked because Aki had the idea of eating only protein rich food was the fastest way to get strong. He was only 11, Shinjiro lamented, and in his honest opinion, Aki was taking the whole idea of becoming strong to protect others way too far or at a complete different direction.

"…1 special, 2 regulars…"

He paid the spoken order a miniscule thought and proceeded to scoop the appropriate portions for them. It was like dosing Aki's food with a huge chunk of powdered vitamins and supplements while watching out if he's looking. Except Aki wasn't there and he wasn't dosing the ramen with vitamins. Shinjiro then grabbed a tray, placed gently the steaming hot bowls of ramen and gave the customers a nod. He won't smile because apparently, they were weirded out by a tall teen with a beanie and a turtleneck sweater smiling at them and he preferred people _not_ having more things to stare at him. He once did it at their school's cultural festival when he was stationed at their class' cafe and, boy, did it end into a failure.

Then there was the rumor he was supposed to be a delinquent who wrecked shops and stole merchandise just for the thrill.

Well... He once did, but Aki had caught him and gave him quite a beating for it. Though he employed his skills trained by years of sneaking out things for his own survival, the thievery Aki caught him in action had a sole purpose of pleasing his best friend's sister. Aki wasn't pleased with that so he and Aki had their first brawl, which was fun now that he thought about it. It wasn't like Aki had the idea of actually _hurting_ him when he threw the punch at his face, it was to _teach_ Shinjiro a lesson, _show_ him a lesson, which was entirely different. Shinjiro still countered a punch for the sake of countering, though. It was natural and Aki had expected it. After the small brawl they had, both apologized to one another, with Aki towing him back to the store while Shinjiro was muttering 'sorry' all the way.

Sighing, he threw another batch of beef bones, some spices to taste and the secret ingredient Godou-san denied him the honor of knowing its name to an empty pot and filled it with water. Aki wasn't being his usual self recently. Shinjiro had thought it was the effect of the Boxing Club and the upcoming Prefectural Boxing Competition, but it wasn't, after he remembered the first fight they had. Aki was the one who always tries to drag him around and strives to have Shinjiro mingle with the other kids in the orphanage. He doesn't like to be with other people, an effect of the constant bullying of his cousin, which he had no plans nor notions of telling that to his best friend, and the still-going-strong fear of them leaving him in the end. It was his secret and he preferred Aki doesn't come across that any time in the future. Aki and Miki had accepted him without knowing what he's past before they met him and since then, they were the only ones he treasured dearly.

Aki was the worrywart of them two, though not much like Shinjiro's but close enough, that it would have Aki stepping on egg shells for a _month_ **if** he came across his past. He would mull it over and accept it, but Aki would have the idea he was being _insensitive_ , which was a joke on itself. Aki did that once to a girl one day at their elementary school and Shinjiro wondered how the two of them got home that evening from the laughter and teasing their classmates threw at them. What made it more disbelieving, to Shinjiro that is, was that Aki had no idea why they did so. No. Idea. At. All.

Typical Aki.

Nevertheless, Aki was all silent and it seemed someone tranquilized him in such heavy dosages.

Not that Shinjiro had thought about it once, though he certainly wanted to do so, but the act of getting one was such a hassle. Much harder than getting those industrial-strength, high-quality, super-expensive vitamins he kept on mixing in Aki's food from the pharmacy at the mall. Bribing the old man tending the store with his 'authentic' English food - which was something he discovered he had _skill_ in when he cooked at the orphanage's kitchen but to his honest opinion was just a bunch of super oily food with a lot of carbohydrates and fat - allowed him to get the vitamins at a very low price, but getting tranquilizers was completely out of the question. No one would sell or give that to him.

It made Shinjiro wonder how did the upbeat, sugar-infused, saccharinely exciting Aki turned into the solemn, focused, eyebrows-scrunched Aki. In his mulling, he had placed his palm accidentally on the stove and the flames had reached his skin. The pain shocked his mind, bringing him back to the Hagakure ramen workstation. Shinjiro quickly ran to the nearby sink, his burned hand under running water to ease the burn and he realized, after the jolts of pain coming from his palm had subsided.

Matron and Miki weren't the only victims of the fire.

Shinjiro looked around and saw people coming in and out of the shop, Godou-san taking over his job while giving him a concerned look, the television at the corner blaring out the day's news and the windows of the shop being tinted with the afternoon's orange light. The people in the shop were all either busy eating or checking their phones while they're eating. Godou-san concentrated on the job Shinjiro should do, not even caring for the small piece of meat hanging on shoulder.

All of them were the perfect textbook description of ' _being busy'_.

Like Aki, he had thrown himself completely in getting a part-time job and being busy in taking care of Aki and himself. Aki had done the same by focusing his attention on the club.

Washing his hands with the nearby soap, he went into the motion of cleaning the burn area as his mind went back to his realization. Both them changed, for better or for worse. Shinjiro realized he wouldn't do this: getting a part-time job, fusing over Aki, the dormitory and their secret dorm mate, thinking of their grocery supplies and cooking before. Aki wouldn't be focused on learning different ways on how to punch a person without getting retaliated before and how to get muscles easy and fast.

Turning off the faucet, he grimaced and pinched his arm. He and Aki may have scars from the explosion and burns that have healed already but some things certainly didn't and both of them were clearly feeling the pain.


	5. V

Eventually, Shinjiro realized that Aki can sleep soundly through the _Dark Hour_ , a term he called for the event that happens every midnight after the fire where every turned _dark_ and it only lasts for an _hour_ completely. At first he had thought calling it _Shadow_ Hour, except _Dark_ felt better than Shadow; it also felt more appropriate because everything was **dark** and the moon was shining like a neon light, _shadows_ weren't a thing under its shine.

Aki must have been too tired from the training he does at the club, he was still like a log and wasn't even disturbed by the noises of surprise Shinjiro sometimes make when the shift happens. That still didn't stop Shinjiro from worrying whenever the _Dark Hour_ happens.

The _monsters_ that roam when it happens do not go through closed doors and windows and only through open passages like the alleyways, but Shinjiro wouldn't take the chance they won't try if they found a reason to. He had witnessed a person one time during the _Dark Hour_ being _eaten_ by the monster on the street through the window of the dormitory. Seeing it with his own eyes made him realize it could happen to Aki, worrying him for his best friend's safety. While it was assured that Aki was certainly safe inside their room with the doors and windows closed, Shinjiro felt _they_ wouldn't be completely safe.

Having him being awake in the _Dark Hour_ only made the _monsters_ more aware of his presence, a fact he witnessed once happen when the _monsters_ had forgone a passed out man in order to chase a stumbling, clearly disoriented and wide-awake woman across the street. If anything else, the _monsters_ would only find themselves circling their dorm building in search for their potential prey during the _Dark Hour_ ; Shinjiro couldn't go to sleep with the squelches they made when roaming around.

He made his decision. He went out, creeping slowly and silently, of their room; utilizing the skills he had earned throughout the years of sneaking out food from the refrigerator of his relatives, he tiptoed through the hallways of their dorm, avoiding to make any noise and honed his hearing for anything moving. Shinjiro discovered that during the _Dark Hour_ , his… weird ability to _'_ _sense'_ was quite stronger compared during the rest of the day. Though he hadn't used his ability for quite some time, he still has it and apparently, it was a blessing in disguise for Shinjiro because he really _needed_ it.

Even with its limited range, he can tell from the stairwell that there were _monsters_ roaming nearby the dormitory and Aki was still fast asleep up in their room. The way he had distinguished the _monsters_ from Aki was that Aki had this feeling of warmth while the _monsters_ were plain disgusting, like rotten apples and fish. Shinjiro, coincidentally, felt something similar to their ever-elusive dorm mate whenever he wakes up early in the morning, all because he sensed the same feeling of warmth leaving the dormitory before he could get down from their floor. The coffins, on the other hand, were like cold steel or wood, which made sense because the coffins were supposed to feel like that, just like Matron's and Miki's when the people at that place pushed them inside the large over he learned was called an 'incinerator' and about a quarter of an hour came out some ashes where they…

He shook his head and cradled it with his hands, slightly leaning over the counter of the dining area. He had to concentrate. The _monsters_ were hanging outside the dormitory like the older guys he saw at Port Island Station during his escapades from school. It was like they're waiting for something, or in their case, someone. Shinjiro scoffed at the thought, walking towards the kitchen area and with the kitchens dark despite the shine of the large moon coming from the windows, he worked his ' _senses'_ into overdrive in order vaguely 'see' the area he was in. The _monsters'_ presences were even more pronounced as his _'_ _senses'_ emphasized them, earning a smirk from Shinjiro. They wouldn't know what hit them after he had his way with them.

Grabbing the large signpost, one that was discarded at some alley near the Shrine which he picked up and hid at the 1st floor closet that evening, he unlocked the back door of the dormitory and stalked the monsters. Shinjiro discovered that, unlike the people he saw being eaten on the streets, he had the **honor** of being 'active'.

Active in the sense he's in the distortion can 'function' properly in the _Dark Hour_ , unlike the unfortunate victims of the _monsters._

The victims, because they were left for granted after the monsters had bitten or did something to their heads, often found themselves confused of their new surroundings and then gone completely hysterical afterwards, despite spending already half an hour in the Dark Hour. Usually 15 to 20 minutes in a new environment, people would calm down and try to rationalize their surroundings. Sometimes even less than 15 minutes which was what happened to him if he remembered it correctly. Sadly, though for some reason, the 'victims' couldn't rationalize their new situations nor end their hysterical fits to take control; it was so obvious they were _not_ themselves throughout the entire time the Dark Hour occurred, making them an easy prey for the _monsters_.

As such, they would creep at them slowly or even morph into a different monster with varying characteristics that somehow would look comfortable in a COMP Station game and, for the lack of a better term, _maul_ them into submission, if not completely swallowing them whole. Then after they had their way with them, the victim would be left alone with a blank expression on the faces, way different from their scared and terrified to death visages before being _consumed_ by the _monsters_.

It would seem difficult, but Shinjiro learned through observation that they could be taken by surprise if someone managed to catch them with their backs presented at them. He once opened their room's window and threw a foldable chair at one of the blobs, and it was surprised, stumbling at the impact and visibly concerned at where the attack came from. Because of that, Shinjiro felt secured he could get an upper had at the monsters, and maybe they would even have a change of heart in hanging near the dormitory; although he had doubts the monsters even _had_ hearts in the first place, making his second thought a null statement at best.

WIth his eyes momentarily darting at both ends of the road, checking if the blob of black muck he just saw was a condensed group of monsters, he closed his eyes and focused on the ability he had and ' _sonar-_ ed' it around his surroundings. It was a typical routine of the monsters to congregate and condense into a single blob, maybe to save space, save travel time or something else. But whatever the reason was, it was an advantage Shinjiro wouldn't hesitate to abuse because he could surprise attack the monsters by using their innate and twisted logic of 'unity'.

He found one near his position, about 5 meters or so, and it was certainly a monster, no, a _clump of monsters_ according to his 'scans'. Silently readying his weapon, he aligned his back to the dormitory's walls and waited for the blob to pass by the alleyway and turn its metaphysical back to him.

Once it had turned and slithered slightly away to him, he swung the discarded bus stop signpost downwards at the large blob. The impact almost crushed the monster at its center and Shinjiro swore he saw bits of its dark red muck _evaporate_ into reddish mist, which was both interesting and disgusting. Morbid fascination in all of its glory.

With it being almost completely smashed, it broke into different black colored shapes before they formed into the various forms that Shinjiro was familiar with. Two blobs morphed into hands while a single large blob morphed into a beetle, an oversized stag beetle to be exact. Another batch turned into floating crowns with a book twirling inside the large space it had in the corwn, while a batch turned into a group of spinning dice with weird smiling faces inside the circles. All of the _monsters_ had masks somewhere on their bodies; it was always at a part where he could see it visibly, and had some variations on their designs depending on the number engraved on them.

The hands had a 1, the crowns had a 2, the beetle had a 4, and the dice had a 10 on them. Shinjiro had a feeling the numbers had some sort of significance but he had time to search for the reason later when the _Dark Hour_ ended. While the monsters were still bewildered by his surprise attack – _who wouldn't be startled when a large signpost was slammed on their head?_ –, he swung the signpost down to the monster nearest to him and kicked it afterwards. The beetle was stunned momentarily and Shinjiro saw the chance to finish it before it could recover. Using the momentum of the spinning signpost, he swung it upwards, smashing the head of the beetle. It then began to dissipate into red mist while the strange mask it had was left on the road, crisp and clean like it hasn't been touched by the black muck the _monster_ was composed with.

The beetle's companions didn't miss their companion's demise because Shinjiro immediately felt fire exploding from his side, making him back off to avoid another explosion. He hopped sideways and quickly moved backwards, avoiding the barrage of suddenly materializing ice shards, flame explosions and strangely-green-colored torrents of wind. Wincing from the burn he received earlier, Shinjiro ducked just in time the cubes threw an orb of light at him, laughing at missed attempt to inflict another of their mind tricks; he had been hit once and he felt he was being chased but it was stupid because he was _after the monster_ , not the other way around, and it soon disappeared.

The _monsters_ tried to attack him and some of their attacks caught to him, but after being beaten up constantly in his fights and the occasional spars with Aki, Shinjiro's resistances took a lot of the monsters' attack before he felt tired, exhausted and aching all over. He however managed to crush them back into dark red mist before he slumped back down at the dormitory's walls from the pain. The pain that was accumulated from being under their constant barrage of ice, fire and wind attacks. Not to mention the slaps of the hands, the smacks of the floating books on his body and the occasional bludgeoning of the floating dice. His arms and face were sore.

But then his innate healing ability kicked in, slowly but surely returning the bruises on his face and his arms back to their natural color instead of the purplish blue of a bruise. Shinjiro smiled at the nifty little trick his body apparently learned from the years of beating from his relatives. Now that he thought about it, maybe the accusations of his relatives of him being a 'freak' were somewhat true. Partially, that is. What else could explain when a person instantly heals the bruises he received moments after it was dealt? Certainly a freak had done it or did something freaky.

Shinjiro laughed bitterly at the memory. He had known better now that he was experiencing the _Dark Hour_ ; he and Aki were freaks as well to his relatives because they were 'active' in a time where people turned into coffins and masked _monsters_ roam the roads. He flexed his arm and smiled at the lack of soreness. He felt fine now and he bet he could do another round with those monsters. It seemed that his healing ability also affects his stamina, though he noticed it was certainly faster than it was during normal time. Maybe the Dark Hour had something to do with his ability? It certainly was easier, _way too easy_ , to use his 'scans' during the Dark Hour but he guessed it was because of the lack of active people around him, except Aki and himself.

He closed his eyes after standing up and focused on the feeling of discomfort and found a couple near his position. Smiling, he gripped the signpost and readied himself. His time limit was only an hour but he would be damned if he didn't 'exterminate' the remaining monsters near the dormitory before he had to return. He quickly paced down the street and found another blob with its back turned at him. He smiled, inwardly screaming how lucky he was. Creating the needed momentum to deal the biggest amount of force to the blob took a lot of energy, he ran and lifted the large signpost up in the air and allowing gravity to take it over, adding the momentum of his run to the force of gravity.

Shinjiro silently thanked the gods that his healing ability got a brand-new perk: sustaining his exhaustion. He had thought that he would be winded out after being hurt _and_ doing the hurting. Still, as he readied the tip of the raised signpost towards the _monster_ , Shinjiro decided to get a watch or clock with him tomorrow.

The gravity-induced slam caused it to threw its 'contents' out. Shinjiro almost guffawed at the audacity of the _monster_. It splattered on the road and it splats became smaller versions of itself, creating a scene of 5 puddles of black muck with hands and masks. Strangely, the masks were similar to the hands he had obliterated moments before. A connection perhaps?

A blob wiggled its hands and Shinjiro felt a magic attack coming at his way. It was too close for him to evade so the only thing he did was block. He used his signpost to block the ice he had caught forming, a second later the shard appeared and tried to explode in front of him. Shinjiro scoffed. Keyword: **tried**.

The signpost he used stopped the ice from exploding since it got lodged in the bus stop's metal framework. He glanced at his weapon and immediately remembered the attacks done by the blobs he smashed earlier, namely fireballs. Seems that these guys were the ice-flinging counterparts of their fire-throwing cousins. That still didn't stop them from being crushed as Shinjiro took the chance to attack while the blobs were scrambling to get a certain vantage point of him. He learned from the previous encounter that unless the monsters decided to physically attack him, they would prefer to throw their magic attacks at him and keep a certain amount of distance away from his attacks.

Which was a chore in itself but chores were things Shinjiro had a 100% Completion Rate on. The blobs went back to fine mist after Shinjiro had bulldozed through their ice attacks with his signpost. He even took the chance to attack the blobs as they rushed at him, countering the swipes with his make-shift weapon and used it as a lever to pummel them back to the hard cement. Shinjiro had to hold back his cry of discomfort as the muck the monster exploded into caught his clothes; it would soon evaporate but the experience of feeling it explode was _nasty_.

With the monsters annihilated – _it felt so appropriate –_ and the road was clear of the blobs, Shinjiro threw his senses around and tried to search out for any of the creeping bastards. He found nothing near him, although he certainly felt some were a couple of blocks nearby. Faint so he had no idea if those were actual monsters or just a trick on his 'scans'. He couldn't 'feel' beyond a certain point and the faint impressions were at that point on his 'scans'. Shinjiro shook his head, idly checking the moon. While it was confirmed fact that the moon exists during the _Dark Hour_ even when the actual date had no moon to offer, the impossible large moon had certain areas on it that would change, making the illusion of the impossibly large moon moving like in the real had to return back to the dormitory. His objective was already done.

A couple of turns and he found himself back at the small alley behind the dorm. A twist on the doorknob made a slightly creaking noise but it didn't hinder Shinjiro from hearing a roar of a vehicle. He quickly got inside, jammed the strange looking deadbolt and almost tripped on his legs as he scrambled up to the boy's floor of the dormitory. The noise coming from outside was unique for Shinjiro knew it couldn't be 'active' during the Dark Hour. It was a noise of a vehicle.

"Dammit. Why didn't I saw it? I should have seen it moving towards the dorm. Unless..." Unless it was that fast…?! The locks of the front doors were being unlocked and the screech of the hinges were so loud against the silence of the Dark Hour. Shinjiro quickly rushed to his and Aki's room and gripped the doorknob, quietly admonishing himself from leaving the signpost at the alley. If he only had his make-shift weapon, he could beat whatever intelligent monster that…!

"Gods, I'm so stupid," he remarked, closing his eyes. Hastily, Shinjiro plunged his senses towards the ground floor and sighed in relief. He should have expected it, their female dorm mate just arrived and was responsible on the noise being made downstairs. But what would have caused her to arrive to the dorm during the _Dark… Hour…_

"S-She's like us…?! B-But that's…!" He almost slammed the door shut when he sensed the girl turn her head towards his direction, through the floor as if she too could sense him. Good thing Aki was still fast asleep. It would be a huge problem if he woke up and saw the environment he was in. Shinjiro took off his coat and slipped off his footwear.

Slipping off his sweater and pants, he went back to their shared bed and tugged on the sheets Aki had made into a sushi roll around him. He was then punched by Aki despite being asleep. That didn't stop Shinjiro from taking a portion of the sheets away from Aki.

Slightly casting out his _'_ _senses'_ , he felt their female dorm mate walk up the stairs. When she reached the girl's floor, the lights of the dorm and the streetlights went on, signaling the end of the Dark Hour. Shinjiro sighed in relief again. His senses began to dull, giving him the feeling of satisfaction of not being able to tell what was happening to the only girl in the dormitory. It wasn't his business anymore to know what she's doing at her room.

Though it made him wonder just what she was doing outside the dormitory. He never noticed she wasn't inside but then again, he never did used his 'scans' to tell if there was someone else in the building during the Dark Hour. Aki was so familiar and he was used to his presence that he automatically assumed only he and his best friend were 'active'.

And the vehicle. What kind of technology she must have that could function inside the Dark Hour? The only thing that seemed to be the same as the vehicle was the strange machine he sometimes heard beeping at the 4th Floor when he explored the building.

It just strengthened his theory of their dorm mate as Mitsuru Kirijo. Only the Kirijo Group would have the supplies to commission that sort of technology, especially when they had already made an entire island habitable for more than 10 years. A man-made, fully reclaimed and rumored to have a distinguished sewer and waste recycling facility deep below the island. Not to mention the widely-known fact that they had somehow convinced the government to let them create a station at the island that would connect to the national railway system.

Whatever reason she would have or whoever she was, what mattered to Shinjiro as he slowly closed his eyes to slumber was that he and Aki weren't alone. They weren't alone.

And that somewhat pleased and worried him.


	6. VI

"Shinji. I want you to join me in a club," Aki declared to him one evening as they were eating dinner. They just had midterms earlier and Shinjiro had prepared a feast for Aki, a way to congratulate the meat-head from his week-long study sessions. Shinjiro was already midway in swallowing when his best friend ask, making him almost choke in his sudden announcement. He quickly downed it with the drink beside him on the table before he gave a questioning look to Aki.

"Why? And wouldn't that be a problem?" he asked back, dumping a piece of meat to the sauce he had made especially for it. He slipped it into his mouth, forgetting his fumble with his food moment earlier, and frowned slightly. The sauce needs more refining; it lacked a certain _kick_. "You already had the Boxing Club, Aki. And I don't think- "

"Shinji. Please. Listen to me for a while." He paused and stiffly gave Aki his full attention. Aki only used that **tone** when he had something serious to tell him. Like the time he had to tell him Miki got hospitalized because of an accident, and the bullies weren't the reason of it.

"Okay, I'm listening."

Aki placed his bowl of food aside and had his hands on the table. They're fidgeting. "I, uh, Kirijo-san asked me to join her in a club," his best friend said, eyes down on the table and his fists clenched tight.

He raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"She said I had some sort of 'potential' and I said I would only join if you too could join. Kirijo-san agreed and also said you had the potential as well."

Potential. He would have teased Aki on how Kirijo had made her confession sound so informal - 'join me in a club. it would be the two of us for the moment.' _damn, those late nights shows gave him so many strange thoughts -_ but the moment 'potential' was included in the conversation, Shinjiro knew it was something else. Something that was uniquely found in the two of them.

And also in their mysterious dormmate.

He closed his eyes and cast out his senses. Recently he found it calming, casting his senses and reach out towards the warmth of people. As he expected, there was someone else in the building aside from Aki and him. Then again, he had forgotten to check if their dorm mate was in the dormitory when he returned that afternoon; being busy with preparing for their small-scale evening feast had temporarily affected on his daily routine. Gazing up and tilting his head slightly towards the familiar feeling warmth with a small amount of chill in it, he found their female dorm mate standing at the staircase, hidden behind the metal railings of the stairs. She was eavesdropping on their conversation. She was… here. That's new. But the timing seemed so…

Shinjiro had an idea.

"You better get down from there, Kirijo-san. It's impolite for someone as you to be eavesdropping." Aki sputtered in front of him, eyes wide open and honed immediately to the stairwell. Shinjiro might have missed the almost inaudible gasp from the stairwell if he had not concentrated on listening. With the tall glass divider of the dining area to the hallways blocking his sight, he focused his hearing instead of standing up. The clacks of steps coming down from the stairwell was certainly made by shoes with heels; nothing else in his entire life he had heard anything similar to it other than the times he was in school and was in the presence of their female schoolmates and teachers. Heeled shoes.

"And it's impolite for you to demand a girl to announce her presence to a group of strangers," the red-haired girl stated, slowly making her way to the dining table in strides Shinjiro felt was too imposing. She was wearing the uniform of Gekkou-kan Gakuen Middle School: school blouse, gray vest, skirt and the ribbon. It seemed to be too… plain for the daughter of the one who practically owned the entire school. "It appears that I'm in the dark for you know who I am but I do not."

"Aragaki Shinjiro. I doubt you have no idea who I am, given that you should have known us the moment me and Aki here moved in," he retorted. His guess was right on track and she was making him already work on his words. "My best friend told me something… unique. I take it has something to do with you, Kirijo-san?"

The shorter girl gave him a look that felt like she was judging her and made a small smile, one that Shinjiro almost missed seeing. "Kirijo Mitsuru. I take you are in a different class as I am since Sanada-kun here is a part of my class. And yes, it has something to do with a special club I'm starting. I plan to have him to be a member of it." She closed her eyes and seemed to be imagining something from the smile she had on her face. "He would be a founder of the club, so to say. However, Sanada-kun said he would only join on the condition you would join him in the club as well."

She didn't deny nor admit she had already knew them.

 _'Kirijo's good.'_

"And what's this 'potential' that he said earlier? And _how_ did you manage to get his attention?" That's what made him suspicious at the start. How did Aki got the idea of joining a club other than the Boxing Club? Shinjiro himself had to point him towards the said club so to think he had been thinking of joining another was… startling. "It's hard to get his attention." She was still standing and it made Shinjiro uncomfortable seeing it. Was she waiting for an invitation?;

"Yes, I noticed it as well." He motioned towards the empty seat in front of her and she sat down with _grace_. She was actually waiting one, surprisingly. The way she sat down, coincidentally, on the seat was so unique - flipping her skirt up in the air before sitting down with her one leg over the other - that he had the opinion of it as an effect of her upbringing; _filthy rich._ "Hm… First of all, would you believe there's a hidden hour in our daily life?" Straight to the point, huh.

Aki made a noise from his seat but Shinjiro paid it no mind. He must had heard of this before so hearing it again wouldn't change nor affect Shinjiro's decision or mind. Besides, Shinjiro expected the topic. It wasn't hard _not to_ since Kirijo came down and sat, confirming her to be same person he had felt arriving at the dorm that night. Midnight. Same. "Then would you believe there are monsters roaming around during that hidden time as well?" Kirijo's eyes slightly tensed but it soon disappeared. "Hm… I see. Then yes, I believe you. And this club of yours had something to do with this… hidden hour, yes?"

Kirijo's eyes seemed to be screaming and panic was apparent on her face that she was silent. To see her flustered was an experience Shinjiro strangely found satisfying. He was about to ask what was her business on it but Aki had the idea of interrupting them, with him almost shouting, "There are monsters? You said I could fight them?! And you know about it Shinji?!"

…What. Just. What?! Did he just say…?!

He glared at Kirijo and saw her got startled at his sudden act. She turned away from his gaze, clearly ashamed or embarrassed, and looked down on the floor. Whatever. He turned his attention to his best friend and demanded, "Just what did she told you?!" Did Kirijo just baited Aki with the chance of fighting? Sure, Aki was known to be best boxer in school but no one knew he had at an almost fanatical want to show he's stronger than before. Unless…

Shinjiro glared at the seemingly unsuspecting camera at the corner of the dining hall, located at the corner of the walls and the ceiling, blinking its red light every other second. Figures. While he had an initial thought of the camera as some sort of replacements for the lack of dormitory supervisors, now he knew it was for a different reason.

Aki must have not sensed his bout of anger, which was the norm for him, because he answered in a quite eager but calm manner, "Kirijo-san told me I could be stronger and I would have the chance to protect others with it! She said that there are monsters out there that appear every midnight and attack other people. All I remember was that we were like her, people that could move and potentially attack the monsters, so she wants us to join her cause." He seemed to be proud of it that it took all of Shinjiro's mental strength **not** to punch his best friend. His nose was still broken from the punch he had from the club and he doesn't want it to be permanent but… It was so tempting.

His best friend had a point but it seemed that his intelligence goes out of the window when matters discussing fighting comes into play. Shinjiro groaned out, placing the palm of his hand on his face to muzzle his disbelief and anger. It had no effect.

"You stupid meat-head! You want to face those monsters and punch their non-existent faces that much? Just because you want to be strong?!" he asked, glaring at Aki through his fingers. "I faced those monsters so that they won't get near the dormitory every night and yet here you are _wanting_ to fight them?! You aren't even awake during those times!"

"The scans were right. You're active. Just like me and him. Have you already summoned your Persona?" Kirijo interrupted hastily. He twisted his head towards her, pain slightly flaring around his neck, and saw she had calmed herself enough. However, it seemed to be not enough since she still had the slightly manic look in her eyes. As if she was… excited? Eager? Whatever. He shifted his glare at her. "You haven't…? But you certainly sensed me back at the staircase... So how…?" Heh, at a loss of words. That's a first.

"I can sense people ever since I can remember but it's limited." He won't explain further. It's not their business. "And what's this Persona you're speaking of?" he asked her. No response.

Shinjiro scoffed before returning his attention to his best friend. Aki was figuratively squirming on his seat. Although he might have been doing that for some time with how uncomfortable he looked, almost invisible small beads of sweat forming at his forehead and almost unnoticeable tensed muscles of his arms. He had spent _years_ with the meat-head. Shinjiro knew what Aki's body language, he could say he had it already _memorized_.

"And you!" he opened, bringing up a finger to his eye level. "It's good that you thought to ask me before you jumped into this… this mess! You could have get hurt badly if you just went out in the middle of the night and what would you two do if you got hurt?! Kirijo-san _might_ have some idea on how to fight them but you! You don't! What if you _can't_ just punch them, huh?! Some have this weird barrier that bounces back attacks at full force like it was nothing!"

"I-I, um, sorry." Aki ducked his head, lightly scratching the still healing cut on his nose. "I wasn't thinking that far."

Oh, he shouldn't have done it. Grabbing the spare chopsticks on the table that were reserved in case he or Aki had dropped theirs, he flung a stick at the offending finger. It hit the intended target, making Aki wince in pain. "What gives!?"

"Don't do that. It would scar. Now," Shinjiro admonished. He placed back down the remaining chopstick, completely avoiding its fate of being used as a projectile, and looked towards Kirijo who was sitting down on the seat beside their table. "You were saying what again, Kirijo?" Might as well hear her recruiting pitch. From Aki's words of interest. it was already implied she wants to _fight_ the Shadows for some reason. And the 'scans' she had mentioned implied she had used some sort of technology to search them, ones that were like her. But to think she had resorted to _convincing him_ , Shinjiro the 'foul-mouthed delinquent of Gekkou-kan Gakuen Middle School', so that she could also get to Aki, 'good-looking and intelligent meathead supreme', just screamed out desperation.

Because there was some way to find people like them, those that are 'active', her words imply either the people they found would/could not help Kirijo in her cause **or** Aki, Shinjiro and her are the only ones that could. The realization just made Shinjiro's gut squirm.

"I… Yes, you're right. Concern to your best friend aside, I came here to invite you and consequently Sanada-kun to my club. It's… An extracurricular club, much like the other clubs at school, but it's… not like the others." She curled her fingers on the table, tension apparent on her hands. Good thing Aki had the idea to move his dishes away from her while he was nursing the place Shinjiro's chopstick had hit. "Officially, it's a club, with a member of the board of directors in our school as an advisor, and has all the necessary documents to indicate its legality. However, its main purpose is to 'exterminate' Shadows."

Shinjiro raised his eyebrow. Moving his bowl of food aside, he set his own pair of chopsticks beside. "So you call them Shadows huh. Heh It somehow fits them right," he remarked.

"You appear to have encountered them. I assume you have an idea why they need to be 'exterminated'?" Kirijo asked, placing now both her arms on the table..

"Yeah, I fought them before and I've seen what happens to their victims. The victims of those monsters are… they're not _them_ anymore." The first time he saw one of the victims of those monsters from their room was heart-breaking, mainly because the shift happened the guy was talking animatedly and enthusiastically to the other guy beside him. After the monsters had their way with him and the Dark Hour ended, the guy - who avoided the same fate by becoming a coffin - beside him was… broken, so to say.

"The Shadows are the cause of Apathy Syndrome," Kirijo declared, looking at Shinjiro and his best friend directly in their eyes.

So, that was her goal. "Apathy Syndrome…? I think I heard of it before," Aki voiced out from his seat, head tilted at the side and confusion written all over his face.

Kirijo smiled but Shinjiro can tell it was bittersweet. "It came around 4 years ago. Of course, it has existed, mainly a neuropsychiatric condition that are attributed to be an isolated incident in most cases, but it became widespread sometime between 1999 and 2000. We, the Kirijo Group, found the truth of this small-scale pandemic through our own research."

Shinjiro glanced at Aki and saw him giving Kirijo's explanation. He must haven't heard much and probably only had heard Kirijo said he could fight actual monsters. Closing his eyes, Shinjiro thought back to the times he spent several hours of researching for his and Aki's projects at the library.

"Ah. Now I remember, I read some cases affecting other parts of the world, America and… somewhere in Europe? We had a school project about it once. I remembered it was rumored to have a weird tendency to increase every end of the month, the cases that is."

"Nice to know you have done some background research on it. Hope it will ease my explanations to you two." Her smile was genuine this time. "Anyway, the club will only have the front of a school club while its actual purpose will be supported by the Kirijo Group. Tatsumi Port Island and the ward of Koto is our jurisdiction, as it was the land where The Kirijo Group was founded ever since the Edo Period." Kirijo placed both her hands on the table, eyes focused on them instead of the two of the boys in the building. "As such, it is our responsibility to take care of our people, even if it isn't supposed to be our concern nowadays."

"So… this is all for the sake of community service?" Shinjiro asked.

Kirijo seemed to mull it over for a while before she nodded. "You could say that. Might as well tell Ikutsuki-san about changing the club's official purpose; he had the idea of it making an exclusive club which its true purpose were supposed to be known only to its members. I must thank you Aragaki-san for the idea, since it appear to be the best reason why the club members are out in the city in the middle of the night should questions arise from the excursions." She shook her head. "Anyway, let's go back to the topic, what's your decision? Will you join my club? Will you join me in eradicating the Shadows from Tatsumi Port Island and its neighbouring areas?"

Shinjiro gazed at his best friend and nodded. "I have been busting those monsters for quite some time already. Best be with people who could help me and have an idea what I was doing. And besides," he said, laughing at the end. "Aki here would still go out now that he had an idea there are actual monsters he could fight with. Better to be there to watch him, right?"

"Hey!"

"From the sessions I saw him at the Boxing Club's clubroom, I agree that he needs to be taken care of." Ah, it seemed Kirijo was stalking his best friend for some time. That's interesting.

"What the-?! You too?!"

Shinjiro smirked. "He's in your class, am I right Kirijo-san? How is he in class? Does he even pay attention to the things being taught?" he asked. Time to diffuse the tension.

Kirijo must have the same idea since she smiled lightly, eyes closed in recollection. "Sanada-kun's my seatmate so I made it my mission to remind him time to time to pay attention in class. He's quite smart despite not concentrating at times to the lessons, which is paradoxical in my opinion. Pays no mind to the fact I'm a Kirijo too, unlike other students and teachers.," she said, opening her eyes at the end. "No that I've thought about it, it's quite refreshing to talk to you, Aragaki-san. I had thought you would be like other people, though not the same way as Sanada-kun here."

"I don't really care if you're a Kirijo or someone else. You're still a girl, who is also our dorm mate," he answered, standing up from his seat. "Stay here."

"...huh?" both Kirijo and Aki said out loud, confusion in both of their eyes.

"I have been waiting for the time you come down here for dinner. You have been holed up in your room ever since we came here that I thought you have been either eating take-out or you already had a meal. Let me get some for you."

"N-no! You should not- "

"Kirijo-san. Shinji's food is amazing. You must try some."

"…Okay. I-I haven't had dinner and I had plans to go out later but I guess…"

Shinjiro smiled. "Great, let me get a bowl for you." He walked towards to the kitchen area, leaving Aki and Kirijo at the dining table. The rice cooker was set on warm and he had anticipated Aki to eat a lot of meat cutlets. There was also his stir-fry that Aki had already demolished his own portion.

Preparing a couple of meat cutlets on a plate and scooping a serving of the stir fry for Kirijo, he also scooped a bowl of steaming rice from the rice cooker. He also took the last batch of the cooked meat cutlets and prepared the marinated batch by taking it out of the freezer and into the lower level of the refrigerator, in case Aki wanted more. It won't hurt to be prepared of course.

With a tray on his arms, Shinjiro came out of the kitchen to see Aki being scolded by Kirijo. Aki was ducking in the same position everytime Shinji told him of the times he had forgotten his things in the clubroom while Kirijo was in the textbook position of a scolder, arms around her body and eyes raised. As he came closer to the table, he heard the end portion of the scolding.

"-eard you were having trouble in English. But your grades **are** high, so why does the rumor exist?"

"Shinji's much better in that class than I am so I have him tutor me; guess that started that I'm having trouble with it. I'm not really good using it personally but writing it is a different thing. Shinji has a knack in using the language, which is why I always have him help me."

"…Is that so?"

Well, he was mistaken apparently.

"Here," he announced, placing the tray of food on the table. "Another batch of meat cutlets to the meat-head and the full course for our very own Kirijo Mitsuru, in commemoration of her every first appearance in the dorm." Aki stifled a guffaw but the snickers he had barely concealed showed it was useless. Kirijo just smirked as Shinjiro placed in front of her the bowl of rice, plate of stir-fry and meat cutlets.

The pitcher of iced red tea, one that he had prepared beforehand in the small celebration of the end of their midterm exams, was then poured to serve Kirijo a glass. Kirijo gave him a word thanks before she went to dig in.

Shinjiro and Aki waited in anticipation for her reaction, Shinjiro on his seat with a serious expression and Aki watching with a meat cutlet already in his mouth. The moment Kirijo made a surprised look and gasped allowed the two of them to sigh in relief.

"H-how? W-What did you-?"

"You just converted Kirijo-san into your religion, Shinji," Aki joked. Shinjiro just laughed. He gazed at the clock behind Kirijo, who was savoring every bite, and saw it was already a quarter to 9. A bit late for dinner, but what can he do.

The Dark Hour would come again in just a few hours but the thought he wouldn't be alone when it happened just made Shinjiro laugh harder. Despite Aki now wanting to face the monsters himself, Shinjiro was there with him. Kirijo may have left out some during her explanation but she seemed to be genuinely concerned in fighting the 'Shadows' so he gave her the chance of doubt.

It seemed his nights just got a bit more… lively.


	7. VII

Stretching out his sore arms, Shinjiro sat down on the bench. Aki soon sat down beside him, equally exhausted, and went into stretching and flexing his arms. The battle axe given to him by Mitsuru was leaning on the bench next to him while Aki's brass knuckles were removed and was now beside its owner on the seat. His best friend was clutching his Evoker instead of having it around their holsters, inspecting it with a serious stare.

Not that there was anything wrong with it, it was just that his best friend was equally surprised and intrigued at the contraption used to summon forth their Personas. It was shaped as a gun and from the discreet inquiries he made to Mitsuru, it was shaped in that way to properly set one's mind to easily call their Personas; a psychological side-effect of having a firearm aimed at their temples, a simulated near-death experience. It was proven and tested before by Mitsuru's own experiences, as it was the same way she had first called upon her Persona to protect her and her father years ago. His and Aki's initial summoning were so different to Mitsuru's, for there was no immediate threat to their lives, but Shinjiro rationalized being in the Dark Hour was already _enough_ for being in a life-threatening situation.

He looked around and saw Mitsuru was back at her bike, fiddling with the machine she had on the its back. She then raised the gun-shaped Evoker to her head and pressed the trigger, its emulated gun-shot noise ringing throughout the ominously serene streets of the city briefly. The air around her began to pick-up and behind Mitsuru her Persona formed, materializing from a light blue hue into a corporeal form with the wind masking the shift from incorporeal into solid state. Her Persona, Penthesilea, raised its rapier up in the air as Mitsuru closed her eyes and placed a headset on her head, looping around her head at the forehead area.

The Dark Hour was halfway through and the Shadows the three of them had faced were much more in number than the day before. Good thing that they had already cleared the area around the dormitory yesterday - the Shadows tend to return to an area a week after it has been cleared - or else they wouldn't have the chance to clear Iwatodai Station; it was a fact that once the Shadows had sensed an _active_ person within their vicinity, they would hound them down until the Dark Hour ends and would continue it again once it resumed. It was more on side of convenience, not having to wade through another sea of blobs instead of a leisurely stroll back to their dormitory, than thinking of the safety of the community; though the latter was their priority most of the time, it wasn't such the case when they are all exhausted from coming back after an hour long struggle battle. Nonetheless, aside from making sure the Shadows wouldn't get the chance to lobotomize their intended victims, they had to ensure there wouldn't be any collateral damage from the Shadows' attacks.

Shinjiro scoffed. He was lucky that the attacks made by the Shadows back then were directed at him, with him steeling himself on the incoming magical attacks. Shinjiro had thankfully managed to have the Shadows attack him instead of the area around him like the buildings during the past Dark Hours because apparently, whatever damage had done during the Dark Hour tend to reflect on the world _after_ the Dark Hour passed. What a way to break the idea of it being a different dimension further by revealing everything happened at the same place, just in a different timeslot.

"Good work. It seems we have cleared the Iwatodai Station in that wave," Mitsuru announced loudly from her position beside her bike.

"No shit, Mitsuru," he spoke quietly. Aki punched him lightly on the arm. It didn't hurt at all. "Just joking. Can't take a joke?"

"I heard that, _Aragaki_. Be thankful Penthesilea is concentrating on searching Shadows for I won't be disillusioned on making sure you get a frostbite. _Bufu_ 's different from regular ice, just so you know."

"You're just jealous Castor's have no elemental weakness. Ouch!" He looked at his side and saw Aki used his weapon at his side. "Sorry, I forgot Mitsuru had power over you with her _Bufu_ \- Hey! That hurts!" Aki kept on drilling his side with the sharp ends of his brass knuckles.

"Setting that aside, I found a quite large wave of Shadows nearby. They're somewhere near a group of houses which I assume to be a residential area. About 5 blocks away from our position," Mitsuru said, Penthesilea disappearing the moment she took off her headset and placed it on the back of the bike. She sighed before muttering, "What I would give to have a map at this moment." Shaking her head, she continued.""A couple of Shadows had already shifted into battle mode and now are in the middle of calling out people from their transmogrified state. I had scanned the active ones and they have no resistances to Physical Attacks and Zio Skills. They won't be much a threat but be careful, their numbers will be a force to be reckoned with."

Hefting the large battle axe on his shoulder, Shinjiro smirked. "Got it, Mitsuru. Get that bike up and started so you can join in with the action. Aki here might leave you in the dust." His best friend just glared at him and rolled his eyes. "See you there Mitsuru."

"Take care Shinjiro. You too, Akihiko."

Ever since he had successfully summoned Castor, the miniature screams inside his head cleared up and Shinjiro felt himself being whole for the first time in his life. His Persona sure reflected his relationship with Aki since his Persona was said to be the twin brother of Aki's Persona, Polydeuces. The timing of their first summoning must have affected their own Personas but Shinjiro immediately threw the thought away. According to the Kirijo Group's research on Personas and Shadows, Personas reflect the mindset of their summoner. Thus, to know that his Persona and Aki's were related didn't surprise him a bit; it instead gave him a sign of their deep relationship with each other.

Their Personas were brothers in a sense, which only meant he and Aki regarded each other as brothers as well, regarded each deep enough that they subconsciously now accepted as the truth. As it was, both of their Personas also employed similar characteristics and abilities.

Shinjiro had always knew that for whatever reason he was 'magical'. It wasn't hard not to think he was, with the way his relatives were adamant on not mentioning the word 'magic' around him or even referring to 'magic' or anything 'supernatural' whenever he was around. If someone was hiding something from a person, most cases it has something to do with the said person. So Shinjiro knew that 'magic' was connected to him, both in a good and a bad way.

Bad that he was being treated badly by his relatives, as he had discovered in the orphanage and the subsequent years in Japan. But it was also good since the said 'magic' helped him survive up to the point he had met his best friend and brother-in-all-but-blood. Not to mention Miki, the sister they wished they had again and the one that allowed them to meet in the first place.

All in all, Shinjiro decided his Persona was the realization of his magic. It was the only explanation why his wounds would heal as fast and why he was significantly stronger than other kids. There was also the strange shield he could call up whenever a Shadow decided to attack him directly, magically bouncing the attack in full force like it was **reflected**.

Which was why he could carry the said heavy-as-fuck battle axe like it was only a candy cane. The same reason why could wield the huge sign post the moment he decided to secure the dormitory from the Shadows.

Though he still wanted a different appearance of his Persona, the stick horse Castor was riding on was distasteful. But at the very least, Castor had the same appearance as Polydeuces, with the exception of Polydeuces had a _needle_ as its arm and the long silky hair. Shinjiro laughed and thanked that Castor decided to ride a horse unlike Polydeuces who reflected how Aki's mindset on boxing truly was through his own body. The sword that went through Castor's body, on the other hand, didn't affect Shinjiro at all, mainly because he saw it as a representation of his own wounds.

It basically represented his own injury from the years before meeting Aki. His Persona just showed it differently, a sword stuck in his chest much like the mental trauma of being 'gutted' by the actions of his own relatives.

A call from his best friend behind him broke his reverie, making him turn around and notice Aki catching up to him. _'Heh.'_ Here he was, brooding over the implications his Persona showed, then Aki showed up with a grin on his face, summoning Polydeuces to cast Dia over himself off-handedly. As if he doesn't care Polydeuces had a needle as an arm instead of a normal one. It was like he…

"…You really don't care that your Persona looks like that?" he opened, placing down the battle axe on the ground and giving Aki a concerned look. While Dia's best on patching up wounds immediately, its side-effect of taking away exhaustion was its selling point. Although in the end, after the Dark Hour has ended, the exhaustion Dia had managed to stave off will return. It somewhat depended on the number of times they had summoned their Persona, leading them coincidentally to create a system in measuring their capacity before becoming exhausted.

Still, the entire matter was complete and utter _bullshit_ to him, but that was what Shinjiro noticed. When Mitsuru and her company found more about the Dark Hour, then he would revise his idea of Dark Hour Exhaustion.

"…Why? Polydeuces doesn't look **that** bad. Besides," Aki replied, summoning his Persona again to cast Dia on Shinjiro. The sudden surge of power that felt calm and helpful flowed suddenly through his body, making Shinjiro tremble slightly. "Polydeuces is also me, in a sense. He shows the power I have, both good and bad. Just like me. Even if his arm could be something else. And the hair. Shinji, why does he have long hair?" His best friend pointed to the long gold hair Polydeuces had, as his Persona returned to motes of light. "I don't even like having long hair and Polydeuces sports one! What does that even mean, Shinji?! It looks smooth just like Mitsuru! I bet it is. Anyway, he's strong and that's fine with me because it just shows that _I am strong_ as well."

Shinjiro chuckled. Even though his pseudo-brother went on a tangent about his Persona's luscious hair, his words did have some sort of sense. Whatever their Personas' appearance looks like, it doesn't change the fact that they _are_ them. Whatever abilities their Personas have, it ultimately reflects their own capabilities. It was only more emphasized and pronounced.

 _"As much as I would I love to hear Akihiko speak more about how beautiful my hair is,"_ Mitsuru's voice echoed through their earpieces, interrupting Shinjiro's contemplations and startling Aki at the same time. _"The Shadows are about a block away, take a left at the next corner and approximately 5 meters you'll find them."_

"Got it." "Do I have to say more?"

 _"…No, you don't have to. Your actions speak more than your words. By the way, after you two are done, there's still one more area left and I would like for us three to deal with that area. The Dark Hour is almost over and it would be efficient to have the three of us there to clean it up. I'll be in contact."_

"You heard her, let's go."

Both of them fell into place, running at a fast pace to the residential area beside each other, and soon they arrived at the scene of Shadows lurking the streets. Some were already in what Mitsuru termed as 'battle mode': typical-monster-like forms of birds and other illogical beings like dice and floating masks; some were still in their 'passive form' and most likely be their back-up the moment Shinjiro and Aki demolished the 'battle-ready' Shadows. Taking in Mitsuru's analysis, Aki whipped out his Evoker and placed at his forehead. With a mutter of Polydeuces' name, he pressed the trigger and his Persona appeared from the spectral shards of glass that appear at where the figurative bullet of the gun would exit.

Polydeuces appeared to silently roar, his body's movements doing the speaking instead, causing several small-scale thunder clouds appear above the shadows. The clouds rained down lightning bolts to the Shadows, some paralyzing while some outright bursting them back to black mist. Just like Mitsuru said, the Shadows of that night don't have any resistances against Zio Attacks. "Did you see that Shinji?!" Aki asked, moments after Polydeuces finished his barrage of lightning strikes. Controlling one's Persona took some mental concentration, which was why Shinjiro moved ahead from his best friend and covering the temporary lapse of defense Aki had when he summoned his Persona.

"As clear as day!" Shinjiro retorted back, swinging down his battle axe at the shocked Shadows and kicking those that decided to attack him. "Come out Castor! We got have a party to crash!" In a spinning motion, he swung his weapon around, hitting several shadows and killing some. He placed the weapon down and brought out the gun-shaped Evoker from his holster. Shinjiro then placed the Evoker at his head and concentrated momentarily to the presence at the back of his mind.

' _Let's do this, big guy! Aki's not the only one who can call the shots here, right?'_

With a bang, Castor appeared and rushed towards the Shadows, using the horse stick he was on as a ramming vehicle. Castor had a force field around him, crushing the Shadows that caught in his way, and at the moment Aki came to Shinjiro's side, Castor had already cleared a portion of the street, Shadows evaporating already into mist. As Castor reached the end of the road, the horse he was on let out a neigh and disappeared into broken shards of glass.

' _Huh. So that horse was also sentient? Or a part of Castor? Maybe both?'_

"Heh. Was that a challenge?" Aki asked, readying his fist and his Evoker on the other. The teen with a beanie on his head smirked and readied his weapon of choice. Summoning their Personas took a lot of mental strength - unlike Mitsuru's who was more on the spectrum of magical than physical, thus giving her a bit of a push in summoning -, so Shinjiro couldn't have Castor materialized for quite some time. Aki's Persona was a mix of his and Mitsuru's as Polydeuces could cast magic spells while doing Physical attacks. Penthesilea was focused on magic that Shinjiro felt the dagger and rapier Mitsuru's Persona had on was for show only. And he doesn't plan to tell it anytime soon.

Once a Persona has been awakened, the summoner could do certain abilities of their Personas outside the Dark Hour; Mitsuru had awakened hers since she was 8 and her Bufu Skills were honed both in the Dark Hour and in the real world. Shinjiro had no plans to experience being bombarded by her ice shards again. Even if he had an enhanced healing factor, Mitsuru was creative with her Bufu Attacks. One time was enough for him.

"Mitsuru, can you tell us which area would be the best for us? Do we have to split up or not? The Shadows split into two streets, both at different ends. " Shinjiro asked, taking in the sight of retreating Shadows. Some went to the left while some went to the right. Aki already chased down the ones that went down the street and both Polydeuces and Aki himself battered down the distressed Shadows.

The familiar sound of her bike was then heard through the streets and moments later, Mitsuru's voice returned in their earpieces. _"Akihiko, the street to your right is best for you. The majority of Shadows there have a weakness to Zio. Shinjiro, the left is for you. Your strength would be appropriate to the Shadows that went there. They have resistances to the Elements, even nullifying Zio attacks, which meant his Persona's skills would be wasted there. Better to have you two at places where you specialize at the moment, am I right?"_

"…Are you certain of this, Mitsuru?" Aki asked. "This would be the first time we would be fighting Shadows separately."

Shinjiro patted his best friend's back. "You forgot that I've been fighting these guys for months before you were aware of them. And that was before I even summoned my Persona." He hefted the Battle Axe over his shoulders. "Besides, Castor has Counter. He got a surprise for those Shadows. And I'm sure Mitsuru will follow you there, right? I believe she has experience in fighting them solo, much like me"

 _"You're correct, Shinjiro. While it is pleasing to hear you have confidence in my abilities and the choices I'll make from my experiences, the Shadows won't stay still as we talk. So please, get moving. I will be there in a minute or two. Despite my Persona having scanning abilities, Penthesilea's abilities are more battle-oriented than supportive."_

"See? So get your ass up there Aki and show them who's the boss in these parts!" he said, pushing Aki to his designated area while he marched off. "Mitsuru, better hurry up. Aki might become a frozen snowman there with his weakness against Bufu."

 _"You too, Shinjiro. I am positive, however, that your prediction won't come to that for the Shadows there have no Bufu Abilities, though at yours have some. Be careful."_ And with that, Mitsuru ended their connection. She couldn't bring her bulky equipment while fighting but her passive scanning abilities wouldn't be hindered by the lack of machinery. Just like him.

Well, not entirely. His was just a perk while Mitsuru's was a legit, full-blown, authentic scanning ability. He could only sense people and the Shadows was a recent development, Mitsuru could sense both **and** tell their affinities. It only showed how her 'magic' is different to his, leading Shinjiro to believe what his relatives used to say weren't correct at all. Mitsuru's 'magic' wasn't hurting anyone; gods, it was even outright useful most of the times, despite her complaints of it not a _battle-oriented ability_.

"Tch. You guys should watch out instead of me. I'm not the one who has _weaknesses_ to the Elements." Shinjiro counted himself as blessed since after he successfully summoned his Persona, Mitsuru's scans showed Castor has no resistances nor weaknesses to the Elements. Unlike Penthesilea who has a jarringly suspicious but quite obvious weakness to Agi attacks, which then carries over to Mitsuru physique whenever the Dark Hour hits. Strangely their Personas just shatters into spectral glass whenever they got hit by an attack directed at them but their defensive capabilities were adopted by their summoners instead of themselves. Which was both a good and a bad thing.

Good, because their Personas wouldn't be injured and could be summoned again as long as they have the mental stamina to continue; and bad, primarily whenever they got hit by an attack their Persona was weak to, they receive significantly stronger attacks and immediately gets stunned. Which was bad against fighting Shadow. What Mitsuru said one time perfectly summed it up: They have no sense of battle etiquette.

Aki got hit by a Bufu one time and he was _dazed_. Like stars in his eyes, jaws wide open and ass on the floor type of dazed. Mitsuru and Shinjiro had to wake him up with one of the special 'medicine' that would instantly 'revive' an unconscious ally. Aki was severely winded out by the strangely overpowered 'Ojou-sama' Shadow, which had focused on Aki by making sure he was hit by all of its countless Bufu attacks, and they had to retreat on that mission. Of course, they enjoyed tearing the Shadow the day after into little pieces with Mitsuru's fencing skills and Shinjiro's bludgeoning style of fighting; all the while Akihiko was taking cover behind Mitsuru as Polydeuces calling down Zios at them.

Penthesilea was resistant to Bufu while Castor was resistant to Zio. Thus, everytime a Bufu attack comes to Mitsuru or a Zio to Aki, the attack seemed to be significantly lesser than other attacks according to her and his best friend. Shinjiro sometimes felt being jealous of Castor's lack of resistances but he immediately scoffed at the idea. Having a resistance meant also having a weakness and he preferred Castor having no weaknesses whatsoever.

Mitsuru's words came true as Shinjiro and Castor bulldozed through the suspiciously large number of Shadows lounging at the streets of what he assumed as the residential district of Koto-ku. He never was good on places except for the one he frequented, like Tatsumi Port Island and Shinonome. Now that he recalled Shinonome, they **were** in Shinonome. He lightly hit his head from the momentary lapse in his mental faculties.

Shinjiro surveyed the area around him, the 'corpses' of the Shadows were slowly dissipating into mists. "Heh." With Castor and his speed in demolishing the Shadows, even their corpses were still in shock from the attack. He immediately frowned and tensed up. The first time he, Aki and Mitsuru decimated Shadows en mass at the area around Naginaki Shrine, something strange happened. It was around 2 weeks after Shinjiro, Aki and Mitsuru founded SEES. The moment the three of them had cleared the area, the 'Ojou-sama' Shadow appeared from nowhere and they had to retreat. Good thing that whenever the Dark Hour ends, the Shadows were seemingly caught in the weird time distortion and it allowed the three of them to recuperate until the next Dark Hour hits.

The situation was comparable to an English saying, something he learned in their English classes: " _What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."_ Though in their cases, the Shadows will stay in the Dark Hour regardless of the location they were at. Sustained damage, on the other hand, was a different matter on its own.

Closing his eyes, Shinjiro used his senses to search out Aki and Mitsuru. He never lost his ability to search his surroundings despite his Persona actually lacking the full version of the said ability, unlike Penthesilea and Mitsuru. He just didn't make it known to his best friend and Mitsuru and just explained it as some sort of natural sixth sense. It was said normal people have them despite not having a Persona at all so it was accepted as such, though the look Mitsuru gave to him that day made him guilty. Slightly guilty.

Mitsuru and Aki were already coming at his direction and by the pace they were making, Shinjiro expected them to be around the corner in about a minute or so. He was about to end his 'trance' when a sudden surge of coldness went through him, making him gasp.

' _It's here!'_

Mitsuru must have felt it much worse, or better, than him since Penthesilea's abilities make her more in-tune in feeling out Shadows.

"Shinji!" "Shinjiro!"

Turning around, he gave the two a smirk. "You felt it too Mitsuru?" The redhead nodded. "I think we can expect this shit to happen every month or so." He immediately went beside his best friend and searched with his eyes any injuries. As far as he saw, there was none but the meat-head had a habit of concealing them so Shinjiro had to make sure. Aki bristled at his pats but he didn't stop Shinjiro from continuing.

"Accurately speaking, every 3 weeks," Mitsuru added. "The only area left is the one near the gasoline station… _Oh_ _._ _God._ "

The two guys immediately turned their heads to Mitsuru with a surprised look. Even Mitsuru was shocked by her realization. "No shit Mitsuru! You better have a plan for this 'cause not even gasoline is stopped by the Dark Hour." And it didn't. The last time a Shadow misfired, its attack hit a gasoline station and the explosion it caused shook, burned and killed any remaining Shadows. Thankfully, the said station was empty of customers and the worker on standby was at the station's garage area fixing up a vehicle when it happened. Shinjiro, Mitsuru and Aki saw in the news the next morning how the police investigation ruled the cause of the explosion as faulty material malfunction or something similar. "Let's hurry, we spent enough time already here. Aki, how much is left?"

His best friend pulled out the pocket watch from his pockets and opened it. "It's… 15 minutes left." Though electronic equipment stopped working, wind-up clocks worked during the Dark Hour like a charm and Shinjiro discovered that fact during a mission one time when he had to chase a Shadow hiding inside a clock shop. "Can you scan without your equipment Mitsuru?"

"Of course I can. The equipment I have is only for convenience and a Shadow database for those we've already encountered. Cover me while I check its resistances." Shinjiro and Aki nodded. "Shinjiro, have Castor hit it to distract its attention. Akihiko, cover Shinjiro and me with your Persona's attacks in case it retaliates. Shinjiro will be momentarily incapable of moving as he summons Castor, as he have to concentrate on his stamina to allow his Persona strength to attack."

The three of them quickly sprinted to the intersection where the gasoline station was. It was sandwiched by an empty lot and a two-story building, a building Shinjiro assumed as another residential building in the area. And in the middle of the road stands the Shadow. It was a giant or a Justice-type Shadow, according to Mitsuru. Justice-type Shadows have a tendency to shift into a giant's hand with a sword, a balance scale or a **giant** carrying a sword and a scale. The Shadow in front of them was a Giant Shadow since it was carrying a scale and a sword. Where its face was supposed to be was replaced by a mask that has a Roman Numeral 8, which confirmed Mitsuru muttering at Shinjiro's side.

"It's a Giant. Rare for one to be found all alone," Mitsuru commented. She paused for a bit before she gasped. "Ah! So that's why it is so large. The Shadows I sensed before condensed together to form it. But…" She readied her rapier and prepared her Evoker. "Just to make sure. Alright, same as always. Proceed with caution." And with that, she pressed the trigger.

Immediately after Penthesilea appeared and began scanning the Giant with Mitsuru, Aki and Shinjiro summoned their Personas. Luckily, or unluckily for the Shadow, it wasn't alert for any incoming attacks. Castor rammed the body of the Shadow while Polydeuces rained down lightning on it, resulting into shocking the Giant if the visible jumping electric shocks on its arms were to be believed.

"This is… unfortunate," Mitsuru voiced out from their back. "It has a weakness to Garu but we three don't have that. Fortunately, it lacked any resistances to our own attacks." Shinjiro smiled at that. Mitsuru opened her eyes and pointed her rapier to the Giant, commanding Penthesilea to fire several Bufus. Ice shards materialized in mid-air and then honed towards the Giant, specifically towards the area with its mask on. The ice lodged themselves on the Giant's surface and exploded, but the mask and the area it exploded on looked barely touched or scratched at all "Persistent."

As if it was awakened by the shards of ice, the Giant raised its scales, ignoring Polydeuces Zio attacks and force punches. The resounding clang the scales made allowed several Shadows to appear, as if beckoned by the Giant. Both Shinjiro and his best friend grimaced at the sight.

"Can you believe this?!" Shinjiro questioned out loud, swiping a Raven that decided to do a _kamikaze attack_ at him. "It called reinforcements like it was nothing!" He saw a Raven stopped on its tracks, raising its wings and making minute blue crystals to appear in mid-air. At the sight of an incoming attack, Shinjiro quickly ran towards Aki, who was across the road punching several headless pairs of Dancers. With a push and a block with his Battle Axe, Aki stumbled down the road and Shinjiro braced the Bufu attack. Since he had taken the place of his best friend, the ice materialized in front of him instead of Aki, who was quick enough to get up on his feet.

Ice hastily materialized an inch in front of him and it was only with the battle axe already in position allowed Shinjiro to push the exploding wave of frost and ice from damaging him much. It was quite strong since he can still feel the frost on his weapon and the creeping cold at his arms, but the full force of the attack was negated mostly.

Still, it was a wise decision. Aki acknowledged Shinjiro's action with a nod and immediately whipped his Evoker out of his holster. Polydeuces appeared and Shinjiro can feel the effects of Dia flow through him, working in tandem with his own innate healing abilities. "You shouldn't have," he muttered, swinging his weapon at an incoming Beast and summoning Castor afterwards.

"Heh. Just accept it." Aki then commanded his Persona to unleash several Sonic Punches at the surrounding Shadows, with Polydeuces punching the air with the needle arm and the air solidifying itself to hit the Shadows. Some immediately dispersed into mist from the strong displaced air while some were thrown across the pavement. Shinjiro turned his head and saw Mitsuru keeping up with the two of them, making holes at several of the Shadows that thought she was an easy prey. He inwardly smiled at the sight of their leader kicking a Beast in the head, her sharp heels of her boots making an actual hole on the Shadow's forehead, and summoning Penthesilea to freeze any remaining Shadows around her.

The wave of Shadows the Giant had summoned were disposed in just a span of 3 minutes from their joined efforts, leaving the lone Giant Shadow in the middle of the intersection making a ruckus of its scales. Shinjiro saw a smirk in Aki's face and he agreed at his best friend's expression. Either the Shadow had already exhausted its own reserves from summoning or there was nothing left to call, it was still something all three of them were glad to have happened.

Aki immediately pulled out the watch and called their attention, raising three fingers after he returned it to his pocket. "We've got less than 15 minutes, let's finish this," Mitsuru remarked, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. The two boys readied, weapons ready and Evokers back in their holsters. All three of them were quite exhausted already; their Personas reflecting their exhaustion by a decrease in their attack strength, judging from the repeated castings of Zio and Bufu done by Aki and Mitsuru moments ago despite the fact only a single hit from their Elemental Attacks killed the Shadows minutes after the Dark Hour hit. As such, summoning them would be inconvenient and outright waste of effort and time at worst or a clincher and turnabout at best.

The three of them rushed the drained Giant with their weapons, Mitsuru slashing the scales it had, Shinjiro swinging his battle axe at the sword it was using as a stand and Aki punching the _shit_ out of the Shadow. It was exhausted, just like them, and its previous upright stance was replaced by a hunched over position, allowing their resident boxer to punch the Shadow's mask. It was through numerous tries and countless mishaps that they discovered the Shadow's 'true' weaknesses, their masks.

Normally they wouldn't be able to hit the mask with their own and their Personas' attacks or when they do, its constitution was much stronger than they expected. But there were certain cases that when they managed to hit the masks, the Shadow got knocked down from its stance and its defenses wide open for the three of them to attack. Hence if the situation allows them to hit the mask, they would do it without hesitation. Though Shinjiro grimaced at the existence of various Shadow masks that were harder than steel when his weapon hits it but were like china when Mitsuru's rapier pierced instead. It was annoying, having varying physical resistances. As if Elemental weaknesses weren't a problematic thing already.

The Shadow toppled over itself from the enhanced punches Aki let loose on it. Its large sword was already broken and already halfway into mist when Mitsuru finished the scale it had, that for some reason _moved_ and gained a mask on its own. Thankfully, the Balance - the type of Shadow that resembled a pair of balance scales - had Bufu skills only and Mitsuru enjoyed making holes at the Shadows faux metal body, sporting a small smile as she made her way beside Shinjiro. He and their leader would have joined Aki into finishing the Giant but it _rose_ out of the ground instead and decided to **flail** around. Out of desperation most likely, not thinking on the possible collateral damage it would cause.

Shinjiro would have remarked that it was funny to see a large Shadow flailing around in _terror_ but the Giant's actions hit Aki at his midsection with the halfway gone sword it had, taking the words out of his mouth and replacing it with a gasp of disbelief.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru shouted, scrambling across the pavement towards Aki with her Evoker ready. Penthesilea appeared and cast Dia on Aki, exhausting their team leader's last remnants of mental stamina. She knelt down on one knee, cradling Aki's head as his best friend braced his arms around his torso from the pain. The weapon's sharp portion was already gone so its hilt was instead used to strike Aki's midsection, a fact Shinjiro was silently thankful for since it would be _much worse_ if Aki had a large gash on his stomach.

It was like time stood still for Shinjiro. Aki got hit and the strike was probably stronger than Aki had expected; his eyes were still shut, sweat forming from his scrunched forehead and eyebrows tensed up, showing how much he's in pain. Mitsuru was already out of strength to summon Penthesilea, shuffling her pockets for any healing items that mysteriously worked in their hands. While her hands were patting around her pockets and the small bag she had around her waist for their medicine, her eyes were focused on the remaining Shadow in the middle of the intersection instead. Shinjiro was focused on it as well.

It seemed to have calmed down from its flailing and saw Mitsuru and Aki as easy and wide open targets; the gaping strange hole its lower body belonged to rippled across the concrete, bringing the Giant closer to his friends. The Giant had discarded already its useless weapon, the hilt already motes of reddish black mist in front the gasoline station's signboard, and instead had its large, bulky and obviously heavy as-

 _'Fuck!'_

Shinjiro pulled out the Evoker from his holster and readied to press the trigger, its barrel at the side of head. He was too far from the, the Shadow's void-like hole apparently ignored gravity with its magic bullshit. They haven't seen a Giant move before since it wasn't moving at all at their past missions with it as a target. But as he was about to activate the Evoker, his thoughts immediately went to Aki and Mitsuru.

 _'Castor's fast enough to stop the Giant. I'll just summon him and have him materialize at the Giant's trajectory and he'll do the rest but Aki and Mitsuru would still be in the way!'_

His hands felt clammy.

 _'What if they still got hurt? What if the Giant's hands are too much for Castor's force field? Counter would be the best choice but it has to take some time to charge and_ ** _time is limited_** _right now!'_

He began to shake.

 _'Mitsuru will get hit and even if she already had her Persona awakened, she's at the perfect location to get injured. Severely. The wall behind her will collapse at them, tumbling down and covering them in rubble. The weight of the cement will knock them out or worse,_ ** _kill_** _them.'_

The air around him seemed to be thin all of a sudden.

 _'And Aki is with her. He's already hurt and he's in pain! It will… kill him.'_

The green glow of the moon disappeared and he can smell dust. And wet paper. Cardboard.

 _'If they die… Miki's gone. Mitsuru will be. And Aki will too.'_

The almost gone scar around his head was throbbing again. He can see the shapes of large men and he can hear something about 'a deal is a deal, sir'. Something was being forced into his mouth and was forced to swallow it with water.

 _'I'll be alone again.'_

He can see the window and freedom. The man was gone and he will be soon.

 ** _'No! Castor! Kill the Shadow! With all of you've got!_** _'_

He pressed the trigger and the last remnants of his mental strength went to summoning Castor.

 ** _'I won't allow them to die! Kill it instead of them!'_**

Castor appeared. In a flurry of blood-stained glass, he came with eyes glowing in an eerie yellow light.

* * *

 **A.N. Happy New Year!**


	8. VIII

"No, Mitsuru! I'm going to the station and that's final!"

"Listen to me, Shinjiro! What could you even possibly do there? We already have done what we could, we even called the ERU to stop the fire from spreading! But you! You, you just woke from your stupor 10 minutes ago!"

Shinjiro grabbed his coat and beanie, shaking the coat forcefully and swung it around his shoulder. Arguing with the redhead would be useless, a waste of time and effort, a fruitless endeavor and his own conscience wouldn't allow him _not_ staying in the confines of their dormitory at that hour. It was _gnawing_ him down.

"Contrary to your belief, I was 100% conscious all the time and only my eyelids were tired. My hearing wasn't!"

" **Bullshit! Stop saying nonsense and get back in here!** "

"Shinji! Get back here!"

He kicked open the doors of the dormitory, ignoring the Kirijo Group's heiress barks of anger and concern and his best friend's cries of protest, and slammed it back shut after going out. The chill of the 3 am air was strong that its coldness even went through his sweater, completely ignoring the thickness of the coat that was halfway done on him. Shinjiro quickly finished wearing his coat and ran down the streets towards Iwatodai Station, ignoring the cries of alarm from behind him and the curious gazes of residents peeking out of their rooms through their own windows. The trains were working 24/7 between Iwatodai and Port Island, as such it would be the fastest route to Paulownia Mall; Shinjiro's goal was located at the man-made island and the nearest mode of transport that would bring him there quickly was by using the train that actually goes there.

Silence reigned throughout the time he was on the station, the automated ticketing machine's noise of it printing his ticket didn't even made any difference to the still ambiance of the station; coincidentally, Shinjiro noticed it was much faster compared to its daytime operation. Not even the security guard that was already half-asleep and half-awaken noticed Shinjiro standing at the platform with a disgruntled expression. The same stillness haven't been broken even with the arrival of the obviously almost empty train carriage, it's wheels seemingly screeching out in a silent manner despite their attributed noise when used. It didn't even disturbed the dead-to-the-world security guard, his hat finally dropped on the tiled floor and his head now in a downward position from its previous upright one. When the carriage opened up for him, his steps were quiet instead of making any noise when his shoes made contact with the metal flooring.

"It's my responsibility. I caused it," he muttered from his seat, breaking the silence in the carriage. After he had said it, the train shook and made its way on its tracks; the train tilting up slightly from the rising motion it did due to the elevated sea-tracks that were much higher compared to its land bound counterpart. Shinjiro looked outside the window and saw the still flaming group of houses at the distance. It was only 3 hours after midnight and the 24/7 news channels on both the television and the radios were already making a ruckus at the acclaimed arson of several residential units at Shinonome. Some speculate already that it was dispute between two people who claimed the land as theirs, making the suspicious fire akin to a showbiz scandal than a tragedy.

Shinjiro punched the metal seat of the carriage. The sound his punch made was loud; the dent made was large, making a deep indentation on the facade, but his knuckles were still fine. It just made him angrier at himself. He turned his head around and saw the train making a curve on the tracks, allowing Shinjiro to see the aftermath of his Persona's rampage.

The otherwise dark blue sky of 3 am, peppered by the stars of the night sky, was replaced by an angry scene of red orange flames and towering pillars of smoke, specks of red flashing every second at the distance, barely recognizable but outright obvious for Shinjiro. Lights of red and blue blink alternately every second, telling Shinjiro that the fire trucks from the surrounding districts were still there and many more were coming. The emergency response unit Mitsuru had called seemed to ask for help due to how strong the flames were; flames brought by the exploded tanks of gasoline that were hindering their efforts and making their struggle seem insignificant in the end.

Houses, apartments, belongings and even _important papers_ of Shinonome's residents were being used as kindles to the flames. Flames that was partially his fault, as Castor was a reflection of himself, thus making Shinjiro responsible for causing the fire in the first place. He hated it.

The train stopped at the station, rocking the carriage lightly. The train's recorded announcement of his arrival at Port Island Station rang throughout the carriage, confirmed by the slow opening motion done by the carriage's double doors. As he got out of the train, a woman, and most likely her child, passed by him; they sat at the seat across the one Shinjiro previously occupied. The child she had at her arms was fast asleep and making small snores, at which the woman chuckled lightly.

She saw Shinjiro looking at her and gave him a small smile across the train carriage.

"We came from a party, a family reunion, and Yu-chan here played around with his relatives all night long," she said in a light and uplifting tone, placing her handbag beside her and pulling a blanket out of it to cover the child. "Go on. You must have something important to do if you're taking the train at 3 am. We can go home by ourselves, you know."

Shinjiro nodded and walked away, resisting to say 'take care' at the two. It made him such a bad person, an _awful_ and _wretched_ human being, to receive such concern from a mother when he had practically **killed** one just hours ago. He even caused a fire that was slowly wrecking the lives of people. The concern he was given moments ago? It shouldn't be given to him at all.

When he made his way down the steps of the station and passing by the closed movie theater, Shinjiro released a deep sigh, his breath making a small cloud in front of him momentarily before dissipating. The streets of Port Island were not as empty as during the Dark Hour, but it still was significantly barren compared its daytime scenery. Moving cars were surprisingly absent, though there were many being parked at the side of the streets, and the buildings were lit with lights from the room of Port Island's residents, sleeping soundly or doing things that they deem to be necessary be done at 3 am. Shinjiro spat out at the pavement, disturbing a rat that was trying to get out of a trash can.

With the streets barren and empty of pedestrians, Shinjiro mused any people in the streets earlier had taken solace at their homes or residences after the news of the fire at Shinonome was made through the radios and the television early morning stations. Even if they weren't able to listen ot watch it, the red orange glow from the distance would be enough to alert them of an unfortunate event happening nearby. Shinjiro looked up and, yes, the glow from the fires at Shinonome was recognizable from his position, reminding him of the action he had done.

Grimacing, he made his way to the police station at the mall, ignoring the automated traffic lights and pedestrian lanes on the road. Several police cars were stationed, engines still making a rumble and smoke coming out of their exhaust pipes. A couple of policemen were hanging around the entrance and Shinjiro saw some of the officers were taking a break at the steps of the station, smoking sticks of cigarettes and clouding the glass doors of the station with their puffs.

The officers that were sitting on the steps noticed him and moved away, allowing Shinjiro to pass through while making nods and greetings to him. Kinda given with how him, Mitsuru and Aki were constantly out every night patrolling the districts of Koto for any potential crime - which was the truth, just not the complete and actual truth-. Still, the officers were already accustomed to the three of them and acknowledged SEES as a neighborhood watch group organized by youths, allowing them to move around the city without too much hassle from the police.

Teenagers out in the middle of the night would immediately ring alarm bells at the minds of concerned people, much more to policemen. Bells that would otherwise bring them to spend nights at the station, causing inconvenience at most to them, and alerting their guardians or parents, which would then bring inconvenience to them and trouble to the teenagers..

Inside, the number of officers were much lesser than what Shinjiro expected, though he immediately admonished himself since it was obvious the rest were at the 'crime scene' and busy searching clues of the arson perpetrator or helping with the ERU from stopping any nosy people from jumping into the fire. Not that Shinjiro thought or even expected they would find some or even catch the said arsonist, since technically the arsonist was already at the station walking around freely. A child's anguished cry that sounded like a wail went throughout the station, temporarily blocking the noise of the lounge's television and the chatter of the radios.

"I told you officer! There was a monster and it bulldozed my mom in the building! It was the monster that caused the fire, sir!"

"Honestly, kids these day. Listen here kiddo, you're obviously hallucinating if you're spouting that nonsense here. There's no such thing as monsters. Can't believe you are the first one to be asked of a testimony."

Shinjiro searched for the kid's voice and found a short boy and an officer at one of the desks hidden behind some dividers at the side of the station. There were about four people waiting at a bench, clearly brought to the station to testify about what they saw moments before the fire happened. Two were wearing singed sleeping clothes, pajamas, tees and shorts, while other two had lightly burned and disheveled skimpy clothings on their persons, one didn't have a belt at his pants. Probably caught in the blast while doing some rigorous 'midnight workouts' at an alley, Shinjiro thought.

Two suspicious coffins side by side at a very discreet location during the Dark Hour was something the three of them saw most of the time nowadays. Most cases, the three of them won't notice the coffins until they were already resting at the said alley when the Dark Hour ended and being screamed at after the two people 'coupling' realized they had an audience beside them. Their team leader's face had the same color as her hair and it was on her face up to the next day, even Aki had the same embarrassed expression on. Shinjiro wasn't spared as well, leading him to do some research on **_what_** the two were actually doing.

In the end, he was partially glad and annoyed. Glad because he didn't have to go through _the Talk_ and annoyed for Aki had questioned him _what_ it was, leading him to give his best friend/brother _the Talk._ Mortification was the theme that day, apparently.

Shinjiro slowly walked to the dividers, towering the dark blue plastic walls, and saw the kid. The same kid Mitsuru and Aki had pulled out of the building and immediately treated with medicine and bandages. The same kid whose mother Castor impaled on his horse stick during his rampage.

"You know what, I'll just write here you were completely in shock from the accident. Sit down there and someone will take care of you later," the officer said in a dismissive manner, shaking his head as he wrote down on his paper. He didn't even looked up to the kid whose face expressed undiluted anger with a bit disbelief. "Kids. Too much Featherman rots their brains."

The officer then shooed the kid out of his stall and called out the next person to testify. Skimpy Number 1 trotted to the stall, grimacing at the sight of a kid with bandages around his legs and arms and band-aids at some parts of his face, and then sat in front of the officer. Shinjiro turned away at Skimpy Number 1's attempts to flirt with the officer and followed the kid to a separate bench at the lounger area of the station.

As the kid winced and clenched his fist the moment he sat down on the foam, Shinjiro sat down beside him and looked around. Several of the officers on standby, those that were taking a break and drinking coffee and eating snacks at the lounge, nodded at him and their gestures of him going to the kid helped Shinjiro to muster enough courage to speak with the bandaged victim. His words still rang within Shinjiro's mind and it painted a very ugly picture.

 _"There was a monster and it bulldozed my mom in the building!"_

The kid was **active** the moment Castor rammed the Shadow through the buildings. The Dark Hour was still on when Castor went in and impaled the woman, bringing her body to the gasoline station and accidentally included it in the attack at the Shadow, simultaneously burning her half-alive and creating the explosion that went on after the Dark Hour had ended.

Shinjiro doubted the kid was active _before_ it happened because if he was, then certainly the kid would have noticed the noises of fighting outside his house. He would have told the officer about a fight outside his house or a strange coloration of his surroundings but the kid spoke about a monster instead.

A monster. The kid saw Castor a monster. Thus, making Shinjiro a monster as well. And it pained Shinjiro to hear it coming from a kid's mouth. What kind of person was he that his Persona was seen as a _monster_ by a kid, his Persona reflecting his own mindset which then translates to making his mind a _monster_ by the kid's logic? A person that caused a fire and impaled a woman **outside** the Dark Hour. That kind of person. A _monster_.

"Um… Excuse me? Why are you sitting next to me?"

Shinjiro looked down and saw the kid staring at him with questioning eyes. Despite the kid having numerous bandages and band-aids around his body and face, the innocence and curiosity coming from his eyes told Shinjiro that the kid was not yet **broken**.

 **Yet**.

The moment he had summoned Castor and he went into a rampage, Shinjiro recalled the time before he came to the orphanage. The time he apparently forgotten and was hidden beneath his memories of his experiences with Miki and Aki. A time he unknowingly wished he had forgotten and consequently came true. But Castor ripped it out and used it as a **fuel for his rampage.**

The kid staring at him reminded him of the time he had looked at a mirror during those times. Except not yet **broken** . **Not yet broken**.

There wasn't any **hollowed out, empty, dead eyes** staring back that was caused by repeated abuse and dehumanization. There wasn't the look of **hopelessness** and absolute **apathy** that was the result of his relatives and the people at Surrey's work on him.

As he was carried by Mitsuru and Aki to her bike and thrown him across like a sack of rice, he remembered the look of **resignation** and pure **submission** he had when he went out of the window of the building with several older kids. He remembered his reflection having **no emotion at all** as he hid inside a dumpster with broken mirrors inside after several of the older kids mysteriously began to bleed through their nose and mouth and fell behind him.

He remembered the look he had after being carried off by the good old lady to a hospital after he fought for his life from a drunk with a knife. The slashes at his forehead and near his eyes were pouring out blood but it was **lifeless** from the reflection made by the glass at the hospital that stood out. Shinjiro mentally beat himself up on the way to the dormitory as he remembered the memories he had hidden away. Hidden away after meeting Aki and Miki, just to forget and enjoy the happy feeling he had with the two.

But the kid, the kid staring at him. He hasn't lost it. It's still there.

"You know, you're being rude. I'm asking you a question and you don't answer." The kid then looked at his side and grumbled, "Adults."

No. No. No. It's starting. He can tell it was starting. Shinjiro saw it beforehand, even experienced it happening personally. It should be stopped. While in his case he had completely forgotten his _anger_ and _distrust_ from whatever machinations happened to him before coming to the orphanage, he knew that those feelings would have led him to a very _dark_ path. A path that he had seen other people on the streets were struggling at and one that he was thankful he had avoided. But the kid in front of him, those feelings were budding. It was small, he can tell, but if given time, it would grow.

"I-I, uh, are you okay?" he asked and he immediately beat himself up by punching his leg from his callous mistake. The kid was shocked at the question, _'smart kid'_ , and was even more visibly shocked, eyebrows raised higher than before and a dumbfounded expression on his face, from Shinjiro's action. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be, uh… I was listening… to, uh..."

"Um, kinda? Maybe? The burns are okay now, it doesn't hurt much at all than it was before, and there's nothing broken said by the red-haired lady, so I guess I'm fine? Why?" the kid asked back. Shinjiro looked around and saw some of the officers cheering him with raised up thumbs. The officers were such a strange bunch.

"I, uh, was there with her. At your place. With her and my best friend when it happened. I, uh, sorry."

The kid gasped, almost unnoticeable if Shinjiro wasn't paying his utmost attention to the kid. It was like a switch was flipped instantly because the kid then grabbed his hand and tried to pull him, jumping off the bench in a hurried motion.

"You were there?! Then you saw that a **monster** killed my mom! It even caused a fire! You must tell them!" the kid cried out, desperately. The officers around them suddenly went quiet as the kid went on. To them, the brown-haired kid must have snapped or went hysterical to Shinjiro's words. A couple of officers tried to come near them but Shinjiro raised his hand, all the while making sure the kid didn't see his action. It would only lead to more confusion, both the potential confrontations from either getting checked by the policemen and being 'coddled' or 'protected' by Shinjiro. He had personal experience of being ignored due to telling truth and if the kid will notice him 'covering' him from the officers, he would only get the wrong idea. "You must tell them! You must! My mom, she's… She's the only one left with me. My dad isn't here with us so she… She... You must tell them!"

The kid slumped down at the floor, knees bend, head down and tears flowing out of his eyes from the small outburst he had. Even the television was lowered down in volume as the kid went on, still clinging on Shinjiro's hand tightly. Shinjiro turned his head towards the one who has the remote control and gestured to them to raise the volume up. The background noise of the television will give the kid and him some privacy, their words will be covered by the stuff being blared through the television. Matters about the Dark Hour and the Shadows need the utmost secrecy and there's only one person in the Station that's aware of the face. One person was enough already.

"It was her birthday. I-I want to surprise her with a gift on the exact time her birthday c-came. She was busy working, wri-writing and si-signing some papers in the middle of the night for the two of us. It was he-her job. Last night mom said we were g-going to one of the live shows of F-featherman the next day. Mom said she already t-told my teachers about so I w-wanted to thank Mom."

The kid sobbed even louder with his tears already making a small puddle at the floor. Shinjiro kneeled down at the kid's level and helped him up to the bench. He was shaking. While he couldn't possible understand the pain the kid was in, despite it so similar to how Miki had… died, Shinjiro recalled an almost distant memory. One that came with the memories Castor had dug up and now was so fresh in his mind.

One that had a lady with a different shade of red than Mitsuru's and a man that wore glasses, the same shape that he used to wear before he went to the hospital. A scene where he had a vague feeling of it being _home_ but was now far out of reach.

"I… I remember my mom," Shinjiro started, catching the kid's attention and now was staring at him with tears dried on his cheeks. "She was beautiful, long red hair and green eyes. My dad was there too, though I can't remember much of his face now."

The kid was silent, still making gasps of air from the outburst he did a while ago. "I remember her singing me to sleep when my dad's voice rang out, calling to keep me safe. Don't remember much what happened after but there was an ugly man, he had no nose if I remember correctly, pointing some stick at my mom." The kid snorted at his recollection of the strange man that was in his memory.

"The man said he wanted me for something bad, I think, but my mom stopped him and she got attacked." The kid frowned, mouth wide open, and gave him a wide-eyed look but Shinjiro continued, holding on the kid's hand that overlapped with the kid's. "She blocked a blast from the mad man and fell down on the floor. My mom was on floor, still gasping from what I can remember, but she hid it as the man walked to me to my bed."

He remembered his mom did something as she waited for the mad man to walk a bit farther, but for the life of him he couldn't clearly tell what it was she did. Shinjiro couldn't say as well that it all happened when he was still a year old, something rare for a year-old-kid to remember at all, so he had to change some things. Things that were somewhat reasonable in his mind, which were also necessary since the memory was blurry at best, leaving some scenes blank while some were only feelings instead of scenes.

"She creeped behind the madman as he was about to take me out of my bed, where I was hiding with my covers up to my eyes. They fought, my mom stopping him to get to me and him trying to get me. Until they both went down and the man escaped through some light show." The kid's hand shook and muttered 'he got away?'. Shinjiro winced at the reminder the kid watched Featherman; it gave him the idea of 'bad guys don't get away'. "My mom was there on the floor, tired from the fight, and soon collapsed. I cried right there. I don't know what happened after I cried 'cause I think I fell asleep crying but I found myself at my relatives' house. I later left my relatives but that's another story for another time."

The kid grunted in approval but still kept quiet.

"Anyway, I, uh, I'm sorry for your mother's death, umm… what's your name again?" he ended, completely forgotten that he never got the kid's name.

"…Amada Ken. By the way, your mom sound so brave."

"Aragaki Shinjiro, kid. Yeah, she was." He believed she was because she **did** stop that blast with her body from reaching him and Shinjiro believed she was _magical or had powers_ because the weird blast the man did ricocheted back to him **after** his mom went down. "I bet your mom stopped that monster from getting to you?" he asked, in a low voice that only the kid beside him could hear.

At that, the kid's eyes went open. Wiping any remaining tears in his eyes, Ken asked quietly, "Y-you believe me?"

The kid was **active** and it would be **absolutely stupid** if he let the kid walk out the station, knowing he would experience the terror of being active in the Dark Hour. While he might hide his Persona from the kid, the Shadows that roam around could be mistaken as the monster he saw. It would be a perfect excuse.

Hopefully.

"You see this armband I have on my arm?" he asked, gesturing to the SEES armband on his coat. He never took it off ever since he found himself able to move at the dormitory nor did Mitsuru and Aki removed it when the three of them arrived. "Me and my friends were there because of the monster you saw. It escaped and it went to the house."

"B-but couldn't the police- Ah!" Shinjiro stared at the kid before he heard his mutters of 'they weren't you guys'. "Was the red-haired lady your friend too?"

"Yeah, she is." The kid was smart. He immediately understood why the police didn't believed him while Shinjiro did. Though Shinjiro hoped that was the case. "The officers here have an idea what our group does, well except for the one that spoke with you." The kid laughed lightly.

"…But they don't really know what you guys do?" he asked eagerly. Shinjiro saw light coming from the kid's eyes and it made him nod. "…Wow."

"Anyway, I bet you're tired. And you need to get better." The kid instantly frowned and looked away from him.

"My… my house is gone. Where should I even go? I only had my mom with me. I do- "

"Stop. You're coming with me. To our dormitory. You'll stay there with us for a while. The red-haired lady can deal with everything, so all you need to do is to get some rest," Shinjiro announced, getting up from the bench and bringing up the kid to his feet. The kid looked shocked at his declaration, which he then countered with a grin. "I told you, our group is known by the officers here so they knew you're in safe hands. Besides, the red-haired lady is… hmmm. How should I say this…?"

"…rich?" the kid asked, curiosity evident in his tone. Shinjiro snickered.

"Maybe?" he replied, leading the kid to the front desk where Officer Kurosawa was sitting. He was in the know with what SEES was actually doing, since he apparently was affiliated with the Kirijo Group before becoming a policeman. Or something similar. Maybe he worked with them before? The Kirijo Group had some deep connections with the government, something they had done compared to the the organization they were affiliated before, the Nanjo Group. They were a bit… reclusive, according to his researches. "She's… famous in Iwatodai and Port Island so she's respected by the people."

Or just plain rich because her family practically owned the entire land, both figuratively and literally since it was _their land_ back when **actual owners of a land** was a thing. And the man-made island was built using their own money.

"Hey officer, Amada here is going to stay with us for a while," Shinjiro opened, raising a hand towards the policeman on the desk. Officer Kurosawa looked up and nodded before returning to whatever paper he was writing on. "Are you- "

"Kirijo-san just called me minutes after you arrived, so you don't have to tell me more. Obviously, this case had something to do with your group's… mission. Hope that this would be dealt with faster."

Shinjiro inwardly winced. "…Sorry."

"Don't worry," the officer reassured. "The damage isn't that high, though except for…" Officer Kurosawa tilted his head at the kid's direction, who was staring at Skimpy Number 2 with a scandalized expression. "Apathy Syndrome might be not serious anymore with your group's actions but the moment you guys stop, it will be back to its previous state. And we don't want to see it on the evening news again, right?" He looked up and Shinjiro felt goosebumps at his back with the look Officer Kurosawa gave to him.

Shinjiro nodded. It was a painful to watch the news coverages of Apathy Syndrome on the evening news. Made his dinners unappetizing in the end.

"I'll take that the kid's same as you three; he needs some sort of protection now, right? Go and I will handle anything I could do about it. Kid looks like he needs some rest." Officer Kurosawa then ended their conversation and returned to his paperwork.

Quickly removing the kid from the station in order to save his eyes from the sight of Skimpy Number 2 leaning on and flirting with the men in the station, Shinjiro sighed. The clock outside the station, the one at the wall above the glass doors, told him the time was halfway past 3 am. The three of them would be absent at school that day, much more for the kid with him. The kid had just lost everything, if not from the combined attacks done by the Giant and Castor on the house he was in, then from the fire that came after. Clothes, belongings… even his mom.

Shinjiro doubt the kid has even relatives, with the way he spoke about his mom and how important she was to him. And if he left him, Social Welfare would most likely throw the kid into an orphanage and that would only lead to him being open to Shadow attacks. Not to mention the stigmata of being an orphan in a society that basically shuns them from not having a family.

He was lucky that Aki and Miki were them for him and basically formed their small family, even if one of their members wasn't with them anymore. It would grate on his conscience forever if he left the kid to suffer despite the possibility of a very good Matron. There was also the scholarships he and Aki managed to get; with them being graduates of a prestigious Academy, the stigmata of being orphans would be ignored in favor of their diplomas and reputation. Not to mention their now established connection with one Kirijo Mitsuru.

Still, being **active** orphan meant danger when the Dark Hour hits. Hypothetically speaking, If the orphanage was in their area, the kid would be safe with going around and cleaning up Shadows. From what he understood, the Dark Hour and Shadows affect the rest of the world but the stuff shown in the news imply that there was somebody aside from SEES combating the Shadows in their respective places. He would still be safe if he was relocated outside their area of responsibility.

 _'Though, it won't come to that point.'_

SEES operates in Iwatodai, Shinonome and Port Island only, reaching out to the nearby districts if the time allowed them. Mitsuru won't show it but she was concerned about it, though the fact she laments about the lack of Persona-users in the area was too obvious if not outright broadcasting it through the national television.

Nevertheless, the kid was active and Mitsuru might have missed the fact as she was busy at the time with him and calling the appropriate authorities. Shinjiro couldn't let the kid be alone now.

Besides, he was being selfish. He doesn't want the kid to have the look he had back then.


	9. IX - an interlude, of sorts

_-An interlude, of sorts-_

* * *

She doesn't know how but she understood that she had failed. Wait, she knew exactly _how_. She had faltered and instead of doing what she understood that needed to be done, she had used the power she gained to do something else. That 'something' involved the project the Kirijo Group was working on based on the documents scattered inside the crevices of Tartarus. The documents she had found at the 'barriers' in Tartarus (secretly, of course) implied that the Kirijo Group was delving on matters outside the areas of human influence. Areas that only gods could and should touch, yet the Kirijo Group had done it.

And they had done so magnificently.

Time and Space. Tartarus was an illogical place, exists outside the normal flow of time yet having some sense of time in it, exists at a location where logic states it was impossible for it to be there yet the floors, the designs and its entire existence **is there**. Rising up from the ground everytime the Dark Hour starts and magically disappears into dust when it ends, returning the solid and corporeal illusion of Gekkou-kan Gakuen, Tartarus was an impossible and illogical structure that exists outside the bounds of time and space.

And with all of its admittedly grotesque and faux baroque structure, it wasn't what the Kirijo Group planned to get. It was an **accident**. Nothing more, nothing less. An unwanted result. But some of their members saw it as a sign of something **more** and that where everything went **batshit insane**. **FUBAR.** Completely skipping SNAFU and TARFUN.

Still, that did not compare to what she was feeling. No. To what she now **understood**. The power she was received from **Death ** (no, it was _Thanatos_ that gave her that power for the power of _actual_ **Death** is much more than what she had been given) accidentally 10 years ago and had cultivated for a year with the help of her dear friends, it allowed her to tap into the overwhelming strength that only the gods could have handled. She had briefly toyed with the idea that it was what the Velvet Room Residents must have held all those times she went to consult with them in the matters of her power, but she digressed. Igor and Theodore wouldn't want her to play around with the power she now had in her hands, their words of being responsible, along with her friends' words, echoed deep within her soul.

Nyx, the one whose feathers allowed them to kick-start the ability to materialize their inner psyches in the real world and the Dark Hour, was affected by the perversion done by the Kirijo Group. Through the same feathers she had graced down to Earth as a method to remove herself from humanity, she had been chained down by the same humans she wanted to be removed from instead. As a Goddess of the Night and a Primordial One, she had decided to remove herself and watch the world go around her with the reason of not wanting to see humanity collapse in front of her. But the Kirijo group had connected her to the worldwide manifestation of humanity's grief and desire of death through their workings.

As a Goddess born of pure Chaos - a power that was both everything, something and nothing at the same time -, as soon as the manifestation of humanity's desire of death and oblivion reached her, her mere touch at the wretched being would affect all of humanity, bringing them to death just like his son, Thanatos, incarnation of peaceful death himself, would have done. But a single human with understanding of how Kirijo Kouetsu planned to do it in the first place, Takeba Eiichiro, Yukari-chan's own father, broke the connection with Nyx; creating the humongous tower of Tartarus and a swirling mass of accumulated power of Chaos deep below at the center of man-made island, a source of the Dark Hour's power, as an after-effect of the destruction.

Yukari-chan's father was a wise and intelligent man, he **did** broke the connection between an unwilling Nyx and the manifestation of humanity's desire of oblivion, but with all of his intelligence and wit in the struggle, he was still human; not everything was under his control. Despite his success in thwarting Kirijo Kouetsu's plans of the 'Fall' by breaking the connection, Thanatos was caught in the action and was included in the fallout.

When the connection was broken, it had grasped at the nearest target and it was Thanatos who was caught. The Kirijo Group used beings that were manifestations of power and emotions, deemed to be called as Shadows by the researchers, and the said beings fused with the caught target as it was the purpose of the said connection. To join two powerful groups of power to create a rift in Time and Space, the first goal of one founder of the Kirijo Group. The secondary result was the 'Fall', as it would take place instantly if the first goal wasn't achieved. Takeba-san recognized the power the fusion of Thanatos and the accumulated Shadows the Kirijo Group had, so did one feasible option: fission.

The technology they had was capable of the said feat, fusion was already taking place so the reverse was possible. By separating the Shadows from the captured target (at that point, Takeba-san never realized it was Thanatos that was caught instead of Nyx but he still believed it was just a fragment of the power of Nyx, which was correct in a different sense) safely, the process of distorting Time and Space, as well as halting the 'Fall', would be stopped. He only had to initiate the sealing procedures he had personally commissioned in case some of the Shadows were able to escape their enclosures.

However, Takeba-san's co-worker and his fellow chief in the Kirijo Group's laboratories, Ikutsuki Shuji, discovered him thwarting Kirijo-san's plans in secret. Ikutsuki-san had already tasted the sweet oblivion of the 'Fall' from the brief moment Nyx had appeared before Takeba-san ended it with the excuse of a machine malfunction. He wants it with a passion. Wants it enough to do everything he deems necessary to taste the ambrosia he never knew existed before.

 _'If fission had brought out power to stop then fusing them would trigger it again'_ , such was the logic Ikutsuki-san had; it gave him to the idea of sabotaging the midway complete sabotage of his co-worker. The result was a 'contained' accident deep within the laboratories of the Kirijo Group in Tatsumi Port Island that scattered the broken parts of the Harbinger of the Fall, framing the accident to Takeba-san. Unknowingly helping Ikutsuki-san's plans to trigger again the 'Fall', Takeba-san had left a message before the laboratories had collapsed about **not** killing the scattered parts of the Harbinger and instead seal them using the experimental sealing machinations the Kirijo Group's Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons had, the ones he had installed to them in case of emergencies.

Ikutsuki-san, of course, tampered with it later and _'fixed'_ parts of the video to fit his plans.

Nevertheless, when Aigis-chan, still following the last directives Takeba-san had left to her before dying, had sealed the part where Thanatos' consciousness was in into her that fateful night, Aigis-chan had allowed her to have the best year she had in life. Though it had hampered her own development, her own emotional development for almost 10 years due to having a demigod's soul living inside him, especially of a demigod of **Death**. But it also allowed the said demigod to develop and understand what it meant to be a **human** , something he wouldn't nor couldn't have the chance due to him being a part of the God of Peaceful Death, Thanatos, son of Nyx, the Goddess of the Night.

All in all, she had understood what must be done. The fusion of the 12 parts of him has triggered the connection and despite Ryoji's want to stop it, his own nature as a demigod that would give what humanity desired prevented him to do otherwise. She had denied Ryoji's wants to have them forget the existence of the Dark Hour, all those 10 years, and use the remaining power of having humanity's **free will** within him and the power of a demigod to replace their memories with something more… benign.

But that wouldn't be what they want. No. That wasn't what the other half of humanity wanted, the desire to **live** . The counterpart of the desire to **die** . As such, she and the rest of her friends, the ones she had spent her best year of her life with, faced the coming of Nyx and it has born fruits, much to their _beloved_ Club Adviser's dying wishes.

She now has the power in her hands and she now knew the truth of the entire farce, a farce created by an old man's **desire** to be with his loved wife who was already beyond the Veil of Life and Death. She had understood that the connection was already made and it had grown strong from the past 10 years of being in hibernation. There was only one thing left to do. But she had faltered.

She, the one who had the power of the **Universe** , had a regret and it was all she could think the moment she had faced the Goddess of the Night, her dearest friend Ryoji, and the embodiment of humanity's desire to die.

 _'I… I'm saving everyone from their untimely death but… I couldn't save… him.'_

It might have been her best year in her life but she lost someone dear to her during that year and it was… wasn't an event she couldn't forget. And it had caught up to her, at the moment she decided to give everything she got in the face of the knowledge the **Universe ** had given to her. She wanted to throw it away, mere thoughts of someone dying at a time everyone thought it was not yet but felt it was by the same person who was dying affecting her, but it only got held back by the reminder of her other deceased friend who had decided to do something with the remaining time he had in his life.

He wasn't like him. He wasn't someone who had an untreatable disease that even modern medicine and magical healing couldn't fix. He was someone who was **murdered** by a person who have no right to decide who dies or not. He didn't desire to die, no, he desired to accept the responsibility of an accident he committed to their teammate, something that was taken from him forcefully by someone who wasn't worthy of being killed in the first place.

She knew she was being unreasonable and despite the knowledge of the **Universe ** telling her it wasn't worth in the end for _'one death doesn't equate to the lives of millions'_ , she couldn't shake it off her mind. She's human. She's unreasonable and selfish. She understood all of that and knew that it was within her power to prevent it. She also then understood that the moment she went with her original plan, her friends would be left alone and despite the knowledge of doing it for the sake of them and others, she wanted _him_ to be one of those she had saved.

Saved from the fate of an untimely death, one that wasn't taken from his hands and forced to him by someone who has no right to do so. She wants to save them all and she wanted to have him there as well.

And right there, she knew she had failed herself. She had faltered, regret consuming her entire being, and the power at her fingertips responded to her wish. Ryoji smiled at her and cupped her cheeks, murmuring words of assurances and wishes, and hugged her. His hollowed out mask representing the negative desires of humanity was replaced with his handsome human visage that somehow looked all so familiar to her, and instead of the body of an illogical puppet, it was the body she had grown used to seeing at her school. The scarf of his went around her neck, making her warm despite the impossibility of warmth nor the idea of temperature in the border of humanity's consciousness and the powers of godly beings, and she saw both the Goddess of Night and the embodiment of humanity's desire of death held back by a swirl of golden dust.

Ryoji, the boy with a very questionable mole under his eye, went behind her and she felt his back at her own back, holding her hands in a grip she knew an effect of desire, want and desperation. She felt him shiver but not in delight nor in excitement, but pure fear. Fear that she then understood of facing the unknown.

He was scared because the power she had in both her hands and fingertips was changing things. The power of the **Universe** was overwhelming that even the humanity's desire and the Goddess of Night was affected. The motes of light around the two multiplied and it engulfed her and his dearest friend.

She then too shivered in fear, the same fear the **boy** behind her was feeling, because the **Universe** stopped and every knowledge she had within her hands, knowledge that was right at the tips of her fingertips, knowledge that was **just at her reach** , was slowly but surely slipping from her. The **Universe ** was taking away the understanding it had graced upon her, leaving her state back to the **Fool** she was.

No.

She wasn't **a ****Fool** anymore.

Nor she was **the ****Fool** anymore.

Being a **Fool** meant knowing nothing yet bracing everything, trying out new things to seek out their true purpose in life, untainted innocence in purest form. A **Fool** is someone who was practically a **blank slate** , which she was when she arrived at Iwatodai. No. She was not a **Fool** anymore for she had decided to change. Change her mindset and try to overcome the obstacle in front of her, an obstacle placed down by Lady Fate herself.

Remnants of knowledge left behind by the **Universe** allowed her to identify the swirls of golden dust around her was the same dust Tartarus originated from, the same dust that was at the center of Tatsumi Port Island and the same dust that had the capability to alter Time and Space. It was the reason why the Kirijo Group was so well known and well off and why they had established their laboratories in the small island. The same reason why the man-made island was even created and the same reason why the Dark Hour came to exist.

As the dust engulfed her and the silent boy behind him, it stopped around her neck, allowing her head to turn around slightly. She never once moved a bit after she came to the rift between realities, thanks to the power of the **Universe** , but the sight her eyes fell upon at the distance made her want to sprint towards it. If she could, that is.

Her friends and… him. They… they were there. Looking at her. Although they were far away from her, she still saw that some had received quite a thrashing before they came to the same place as her. Fuuka-chan was already kneeling and she could saw that the teal haired girl was crying, her upperclassmen were also consoling one another while her classmates were looking away from her with tears dripping from their eyes. Aigis-chan, however, had her eyes closed but the minute tremors that shake through her mechanical body told her the mechanical maiden was distraught over her situation. Yukari, her first and _bestest_ friend, was staring at her with a resolved look, making her entire body look like she doesn't care at all; her clenched fists were speaking otherwise.

But him, the best friend of their resident boxer, he was there. How could he be there? She clearly remembered him **dying** on her arms on that night but with the **Universe** 's gifted knowledge and understanding slipping away and taking away her own, she had doubts now whether he really _did_ die or she just had blocked him out of her mind due to overwhelming grief.

Was it possible for her to ignore him if he had survived? Probably, if he had survived only to be referred as brain-dead. That fate was so similar to being dead that it was only an insult to injury. Adding salt to the wounds.

Now she had a feeling what must have been their _beloved_ Club Adviser was feeling all throughout those 10 years after the incident. To be held back at the spot where one can almost taste it in the air, just an inch from their fingertips and a breathe away from their mouth.

It seemed to be ridiculous but the scene in front of her gave her a feeling of tremendous excitement and guilt. It was a paradoxical feeling, guilt and excitement. Was the scene in front of her the **Universe** 's way of showing her the possible outcome of her choice? Or was it a scene of what she was forsaking by making the _different_ choice? She had no idea. The **Universe ** had already gone, leaving her with the sight of her friends and _him_ at a distance away from her.

From her position, she could tell he brought out a key, a small key from what she can tell, and dropped to the transparent platform they were on. The key was then smashed by his foot, crumbling into dust and starting up the swirling motion of the dust around them. She then understood that the pause of the swirling dust now then sand was waiting for his contribution, the last part needed for her 'wish' to be granted.

Before the dust quickly and fully enveloped her, she saw him mouthed something at her. She recognized it and it allowed her a sense of relief, knowing that her friends wanted this as well.

 _'Let's save everyone. Not just us but you too. See you later.'_

'Stupid Shinji,' she mentally cried out, ecstatic at his and her friend's decision. 'That's what we planned to do at the beginning, right?' She then slipped into the darkness as the golden sand covered her eyes completely, cutting her off from the outside.


	10. x - it's my turn now

She woke up, gasping for air. When she opened her eyes, she saw black. No. It was black smoke, dark dirty looking smoke coming from a car's engine. Engine? She doesn't know what's _exactly_ an engine, but she knew that if it was smoking smoke black as the ones given off by a barbeque grill, it only meant trouble.

Trying to get up, she noticed she was in a car. And she was upside-down, with the car's seatbelt holding her still on the flipped car's seats and the supersized Jack Frost toy doll she had was keeping her body from making contact on the car's roof. She gripped the seatbelts with her small hands until she reached the clip and she took it off. Her descent on top of the doll was met with a cry of slight pain, shaking the car briefly.

"Ugh," someone groaned out beside her. She looked around and found a blue-haired boy that was looked so young like her. "What happened…? Hamuko?" She tilted her head in confusion at the still hanging kid. His hands were already finding the clip of his own seatbelt until he soon fell down from the pull of gravity. The Jack Frost doll she's gripping at was then thrown by her towards him and was used to catch the blue-haired boy, making the boy smile at her. She smiled back in response, the yellow light coming from the outside showing her and his own smiles and then smirks.

"Come on, let's get out." The boy nodded and reached out towards the locks on the door, clicking them open. A whoosh and the two went out of the flipped car, crawling out of the flipped over car and avoiding the smashed glasses of their windows. Confused, she wondered how the two of them managed to stay away from being scratched by the broken glass. Not even a single prick was on their bodies and it seemed to be strange that they weren't injured from it. Maybe the glass went outwards instead of inwards?. She had then noticed her parents weren't in the car, so probably the had already gotten out and was doing something else. Maybe they were busy searching for help? Or maybe busy in getting the fire out?

…Why did she thought that a fire would come after the smoke? Before she could answer her own question, a rocking tremor swept through the two of them, knocking her and the blue-haired boy. It wasn't that strong to throw them back by a meter or so but it was enough for them to be flat on the ground, making them sit and wince at the pain of falling down suddenly.

Minato was the first to get up and help her stand up.

…Minato? He looked like Ryoji but… Who's Ryoji? Ryoji looked like Minato but Minato was… He was her brother.

...Yes, that's right. He was her brother and Ryoji looked like Minato that she thought sometimes she was adopted because it seemed he was his twin instead of her.

...Who **is** Ryoji anyway? She… She can't remember. Who...?

...Where are they?

"W-Where are we? Where's mom? Where's dad?" she asked, quickly whipping her head around in search of their parents. The car they were in moments ago was now a flaming husk of metal at the front and there was a suspicious flowing red violet liquid coming below the vehicle, slowing making its way to them while flames walk leisurely on top. "…Minato-kun?"

Her… brother was silent. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the flaming liquid towards what she knew as the metal railings of the Moonlight Bridge. How she knew it was the name of the bridge was a mystery to her since their family just visited Tatsumi Port Island yesterday for some job offer or something. _It was important_ , her father said, _for the two of them_. Shaking her brother to get his attention, she finally noticed their surroundings and, strangely, found herself in awe of it.

The moon was unusually large; its face was so close to them that she felt so small and insignificant compared to the yellow shining moon. It didn't compare to the green and red combo of their surroundings, as if someone threw some sort of green and red cellophanes over the entire sky. Everything was so… weird and _unusual_ that the gasp in her throat was held back until she had noticed the scattered puddles of red stuff at the road and the color of the water below the bridge.

It was red like blood and looked like blood. She had doubts it was blood though. Who would track around their wounds and let blood out around like that? Her mother would get mad since according to her, it was hard to take out the stains of blood out of their clothes. She then looked around, confused as to why there weren't any noise she found common on the streets. It was quiet, too quiet. Aside from the crackling of the fire from the overturned car, she couldn't find anything else around them.

"I-I don't know! W-What's going on, Hamuko? Why is everything so green?!" his brother at last voiced out in a admittedly hysterical manner. _'That reaction is the norm when one's in The Dark Hour,'_ her mind supplied but nothing else came afterwards. She questioned why her inner voice (the one that her mother referred to whenever she read a word without speaking, **that** kind of voice) gave her that but before she could answer her brother's question, a series of _pings_ and _pangs_ rang out at the bridge.

Both of them ducked their heads, terrified from the clangs. _Whooshes_ and _booms_ came afterwards, shaking the concrete road they're on. She and her brother looked up and searched for the source of the noise and found two figures making their way towards them. One looked like chasing the other as the chaser was throwing some things at the other.

 _'Bullets. Ammunition.'_ Again, her mind gave her those words but she doesn't know what it meant. _'_ _It would hurt a lot if it hits.'_ …Like a rock thrown? That's how it worked?

Minato pulled him away from the railing and ran back behind the burning car, no more suspicious liquid flowing anymore at their new position and the heat of the fire much lesser than what it was before. She looked at her brother and noticed his eyes were wide and sweat were dripping from his forehead. His hand on her own was shaking and it was wet and cold.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned about his brother's shaking. He was acting like that when they were watching a horror movie one time and she knew it was because he was genuinely afraid. She wasn't afraid at all but was otherwise curious and… in awe. How and why was she not like his brother, shaking and cold and sweating?

 _'It's_ ** _Death_** _, though not the one I have imagined to be before but still related to. I've faced him before and we became friends but brother never met him before.' …'_ **Death** _'?_

The noise around them grew louder and with her curious about it, she peeked and saw a lady in white fighting a… ghost with chains wrapped around him. Halloween was already over though, so why would the other person wearing a creepy looking costume. It looked funny and not really scary at all, the dinosaur mask was also funny on the ghost costume.

Minato pulled her back down and gripped her shoulders, tension apparent by the way her brother's hands were shaking. "I-I don't know! I want mom! I want dad! I don't like this place." She nodded. Even if she found herself curious about the entire place, she wants their parents and the bed they love to sleep on.

Standing up, she reached out her hand to her brother. "Let's run then. The lady in white and the creepy dinosaur guy are fighting. I think it's a fight from a late Halloween party," she said, turning her head towards the fight beyond the car. She saw the lady doing a series of kicks and some martial arts moves she saw once in television and it looked amazing. Flipping, jumping, jabs done in mid-air. Like the ones she watched with Minato and their dad on Saturdays at the movie theaters. Most were foreign films from what she can remember. The dinosaur guy, on the other hand, was nothing compared to the way the lady in white as she flipped over him, even though dinosaur guy was so cool with the large poles. She threw the dinosaur guy with just a single grab at its cloak.

Still amazed at the sight, her brother had thought it was time for them to leave as Minato took her hand and went sprinting down the bridge, her stumbling after with him. As they ran, a vague sense of familiarity with the area came to her - though she doesn't know where it came from - that she can tell and knew they were on the way to the mainland instead of the Tatsumi Port Island area. Wasn't the police station at the man-made island instead on the mainland? But with the fight behind them, she doubt the police wouldn't notice it and ignore the ramble.

Then it suddenly dawned to her. There weren't any people as far as her eyes can see and the cars that were littered on the roads were empty. Who would report the fight? Was this the reason why their parents weren't there with them? Because they searched for more people?

"Is that… a closet?" her brother asked, pointing to one of the weirdly shaped boxes inside a car they passed by. "It seemed to be so… big." They passed by another car and just like her brother said, it was a big that it seemed to be resting on the seat of the car. It also radiated a weird red shine that made the entire thing glow.

 _'They're safe. Safe from the Shadows. The Shadows can't reach them inside as the coffin protects them from their influence, though someone with an ability to reach out can pull them out of that state.'_

…Safe? From the shadows?

"I… I don't know Minato. Let's go. I bet mom and dad are on their way towards us, and they probably had policemen with them," she said, pulling her blue-haired brother away from the car and back on the road. "Do… Do you think they'll be angry? I mean, the car blew up. Dad said it was expensive."

"…Maybe? We still have Jacky here," Minato replied, gesturing the Jack Frost doll she had around her arms. She didn't notice she was clutching it all the time until Minato made it known to her. "And that's more important."

"Silly." Her brother certainly was being funny. Or trying to. Nevertheless, they continued walking instead of running down the road, not bothering to sprint anymore because their feet were tired and Minato complained of getting his brand-new shoes with the red paint that were scattered all over the road. She didn't have the strength to tell him it wasn't paint at all.

All of a sudden, a tremor went pass through them, again, stumbling her and her brother on their feet and leaving them lying around on the concrete road. Minato was beside her, right side up and staring at something at the distance behind them. She turned her head around, her neck feeling strained from the force of impact, and saw the two Halloween goers still fighting. But they were now moving towards them. Were they moving while they're fighting? Probably. Their fight looked to be the same. The only difference was that the lady in white was pushing the dinosaur guy towards their direction because dinosaur guy was blocking her strikes.

She tried to get up but the impact had her arms feeling like pancake syrup and her legs feel like wet cereal flakes. Or a bunch of super soggy mochi. Her brother noticed her struggle and tried to help her up but another tremor went through the concrete road, tripping her brother over his feet and bringing him back to his previous position of lying down on the road.

 _'Death saw me and attacked. But she stopped him. She was injured and I was too. Shen then did something.'_

…Yes, dinosaur guy will see them and use them as a shield. She now felt they weren't Halloween party goers instead because dinosaur guy had **no legs** and he was **floating** . The lady in white was actually not a lady but a **robot** because she had gears and cogs for her joints and her arms looked like a doll's arms; they keep on twisting.

They were approaching them faster than she expected so she struggled to get up. Her mushy legs and arms resisted but she did get up and, despite her legs screaming out in pain, she helped her brother up. Minato was woozy, like he had banged his head on the concrete. She can feel a bump at his forehead, confirming her thought.

Quickly, she helped her brother reached the side railings of the bridge and hid themselves behind a car. The noise of their fighting was loud and she can hear them making cracks on the concrete. She took a peek and saw dinosaur guy using its chains as a whip to hit the robot lady. Robot lady evaded it and responded by **shooting** from her fingers. Her fingers were guns…? She was certainly a robot lady.

Shooting, whipping and some sort of magic tricks were done before the two passed by their hiding place. She made a glance at her brother and saw him returning back to wakefulness. He held his head and turned it around, searching for something or someone familiar. When his blue eyes met hers, he visibly relaxed and slumped back on the metal bars of the bridge.

Minato tried to say something but he was interrupted when a large chunk of concrete made itself known at the car they were using as a hiding spot. The glass windows of the car shattered, forcing the two of them to scramble away in order to avoid being hit by the glass. Minato was about to be hit by the car's door when it happened but she had tackled him down, hitting her back instead. She winced in pain but ultimately ignored it; she helped her brother up instead and they ran down the road, wincing slightly.

She looked over her shoulder and was relieved to see her shirt wasn't torn. The door just hit her, that wasn't bad at all. She then turned around and saw a box inside the car crushed, bent and visible cracks apparent with a weird colored liquid coming out from the said cracks. She felt afraid for some reason and wanted to cry at the sight of the glowing box being crushed by the dinosaur guy's impact.

Dinosaur guy whipped its head at her, probably noticed her stare previously, and floated up. The mask of dinosaur guy opened and mimicked an act of roar and rushed towards her. She tried to move but she couldn't. She wanted to cry because she was afraid. Dinosaur guy had crushed a box and she felt scared. She didn't want to be like the box.

A force behind her pushed her out of the way and she quickly whipped her head around. It was Minato. He pushed her out of the way of the dinosaur guy's ghostly hands and, instead of her, he was caught in it. The force of her brother's push was not that strong to completely make her fall, just enough for her to be missed.

Her brother then struggled from the dinosaur guy's ghostly hand, face torn into a silent scream and visibly struggling to get away from the one in front of him. Dinosaur guy's mask tilted the same way a bird tilted its head in confusion as its head continued to follow her brother's head. She felt her eyes playing tricks on her as dinosaur guy's mask seemed to change shape and color, flickering like a candle being blown by the wind. It was as if it was changing into…

 _'Death had a form of a person so it would make sense if he had copied a person's face to use as his. But I always wondered where did he got that face so familiar to me yet for the life of mine, I don't know where I have seen. I forgotten it actually where, no, who it used to belong.'_

Minato's. His brother's face. Wanting to stop her brother from experiencing more pain, she used her doll to hit the dinosaur guy, making him release her brother. She noticed as she caught him, her brother was gasping and his face was white as newly cleaned blankets. She shook him hard and slapped him silly. He was her brother; he shouldn't be this... white. This… pale.

Color returned to his face and she saw the blue return to his eyes, it was gray and almost silver before. She smiled and would have cried right there before his brother was suddenly pulled up from her arms and was tossed up in the air by the lady in white. She wants to cry out, just like his brother who now began to scream from something that he certainly felt as pain.

The robot lady beside her had her eyes wide open and they seemed to be bulging like crazy. The area around her neck was open and she saw light coming from there. She looked up. The dinosaur guy was wailing silently while her brother was screaming from the air. They were suspended like someone hanged them on the wall with duct tape.

She kicked and hit the robot lady, demanding to let her brother go, but she was too strong for her. In fact, she screamed in pain because her legs were **metal** and she had just kicked something metal. Then there was a bright light that almost blinded her, forcing her to close her eyes.

 _'She sealed him to me, hampering my own emotions, development, and memories in the process and in the next 10 years. I couldn't remember much of my own past because of it. I never even knew why I was even being transferred because the first thing I could only remember was waking up on the train. Nothing more before that point. It was like I had just existed then and there but I knew I was alive before coming there.'_

The light seemed to take forever to pass by. Then just like it appeared, it ended, leaving her the only one conscious in the aftermath. The robot lady was passed out on beside her, eyes closed and visibly not moving; dinosaur guy suspiciously gone; Minato lying on the ground like he was just sleeping. But his face, it was in pain from what she can tell. Eyes shut, lips trembling and small sweat drops forming around his face. Even his body was shaking mad like those people he saw in the television and movies. See jures.

 _'It was like nothing mattered before that year.'_

It looked so terrifying with how the green and yellow light of the moon shined on his face that she wanted to cry out for help, cry for her parents, cry out to the robot lady and demand what she did to her brother.

She felt the world shift and she saw the large moon in the sky disappear into the small moon she was familiar with. Disappear like paper being burned and ashes falling from it one by one. Only faster. The sky was blue and the star are out. Even the streetlights of the road were back and the noise of the cars were back.

She looked around. A car was fast approaching her but it hit the robot lady instead, throwing the car upside-down and crossing the other side of the road. It was terrible. The car hit another and another and one even blew up and… her brother was still unconscious beside her.

 _'Then again, nothing really mattered before that time. I had nothing with me before coming there so what happened all those years ultimately was useless. Maybe that's why I couldn't remember a thing about it.'_

Minato, her dear brother, was beside her. She pulled his body and helped him to the railing, letting his body lean on the wall. His chest was moving, allowing her some sense of relief. She heard stories of people not breathing and though she had seen what happened to those on television that stopped breathing, she doesn't want that for her brother. Quickly, she patted him and he felt warm yet at the same time cold. Strange.

 _'But the moment I stepped out of the train, I knew that something was starting. It was change.'_

She then opened his closed eyes and what she saw stunned her. It was gray.


	11. xi - what really mattered

"Arisato… Hamuko?"

"…H-Here!"

"Oh good. Ma'am, she's here. And her brother as well."

The man with a white coat then walked away, turning around at a corner and leaving her with a distinctively familiar lady that looked like she had been through a storm. Her hair was frizzled like she passed by a mall's jumbo fans and her eyes looked like her mom's whenever she didn't sleep at night. She was carrying some bags that were somewhat bulky and Hamuko could see a part of a pink blanket peeking through the zipper.

"Um… can I help you Miss…?" she asked, trying to be polite. The nurse left her with them so she must be related to them? Probably. They still haven't found their parents and she was sure they were somewhere in the hospital, surely looking for them as well. Their parents weren't in the car when she and her brother came around and they weren't with the policemen and ambulance men that came to help them to the hospital.

"…Hamuko-chan? Have you already forgotten me?" She gave the lady a much deeper look and shook her head. Nothing came to her mind, though she wanted to say she's their aunt but she has no idea which side of their family. It was something she remembered their parents keep on telling them to never forget since it was something worth fighting and getting upset over by their relatives. "Aunt Himiko?"

Hamuko closed her eyes and concentrated. She remembered her mother telling her that her side of the family has a tradition to use the '-ko' suffix on the names of their females so…

"…From my mom's side?" she asked hopefully, eyebrows raised and eyes widening in confusion and anticipation. The lady smiled and Hamuko saw her visibly relaxed, shoulders slightly lowered, arms back at the sides instead at her chest and a release of a sigh at the end of the action. Hamuko saw her sat down at the seat that was placed before the nurse left and noticed her rummaging through one of the bags she brought in. After watching the lady for a minute or so, Hamuko returned her attention to her brother.

Her brother that was still asleep on the hospital bed with various wires taped and attached around his body to a machine. A machine that keeps on beeping and had some weird lines that constantly went up and down. There were also numbers that keep on changing on the machine's screen and Hamuko can't help but stare at the numbers that keep on changing.

It was… strange. A part of her mind was showing (no, replaying) her a scene where instead of her brother lying on the bed, there was an older guy, a teenager, with hair that was not very long to call a woman's hair but long enough to distinguish from the normal boy's haircut. There was a machine with wires attached to the older guy and the scene supplied her with an older version of herself watching over the fast-asleep guy and was watching the numbers on the screen as well.

Well, an older and beautiful version of herself. She looked like her and their mother mixed together and Hamuko felt that if she grew a bit bigger and taller, she could totally look like her 'older version'.

What the scene differed from what was in front of her was the tall metal pole that has some clear water hanging on it and had a tube attached to the older guy. Her brother on the bed lacked one and it made her smile at the fact Minato had no such tube. The tube was connected to the older guy's arm with a needle and needles the size of a pen certainly would hurt a **lot**.

Hamuko took her brother's hand that was resting on top of his blanket and gripped it tightly. His hand was cold but not as cold as before, before they got to the hospital, before the two of them were quickly brought to a doctor and underwent a check-up and her brother taped with some wires. The clock above them made a resounding click throughout the silent room they were in and it made Hamuko look at it.

3:35.

She looked at the window behind her and saw darkness. Darkness that was littered with little lights, light she assumed from the various buildings and probably the stars as well. It was morning, early morning. Way past her bedtime.

"Hamuko-chan? You should take some rest," the lady behind her called out, making Hamuko turn her attention to her. Her aunt was handing her a jacket and a small pillow and was gesturing towards a small bench at the wall beside her brother's bed. "Please, get some sleep. Your brother will still be here and I will watch over you two."

She took the two items and stared at it. The pillow was fluffy while the jacket looked familiar. Pink and had a design of a Featherman Ranger's Emblem. Pink Argus' Emblem. But that jacket was… Oh. She had left it at her aunt's one time and with it at her hands, it just confirmed the lady in front of her was actually her aunt.

Her mind was telling her she had no family aside from herself but the other part kept on saying it wasn't true. It was confusing her for almost… 3 hours? Probably.

"…Thank you, Auntie." Hamuko stood up from the seat, leaving the Jack Frost doll on her brother's lap instead on hers. She then went to the bench next to her and placed the pillow, putting on the jacket while sitting down. The air conditioning unit was blasting cool, cold wind throughout the room and she never noticed how cold it was until she wore the jacket.

Laying down, she saw the television that was placed on a hanging steel cage at the ceiling turned on, showing images of a smoking building amidst a dark blue sky. It looked familiar, like it was the same building she, her brother and their parents went to hours ago. Their aunt was staring at the screen with a pained look, like she was being pinched while watching it.

Hamuko shook her head and laid down on the bench, putting her hands under the pillow and staring at her brother, instead of the television their aunt was watching. The overhead light above her brother showed how pale he was, way paler than he usually was, and the strange faces he was making. She already tried on shaking him up back at the bridge and at the time they were immediately left alone in the room but Minato still kept on sleeping.

It was making her sad and angry at the same time. _'_ _It's_ ** _Frustration_** _. Anger that has no possible way to resolve itself. Yet.'_

…Frustrated. Yes, it frustrated her to no end that her brother was clearly hurting somewhere but the doctors said they couldn't find one. She wasn't stupid, she understood that the doctors were confused why her brother was unconscious. But it still hurt, accepting the fact. It _frustrated_ her.

The chill from the air conditioning unit slowly crept inside her, making her stifle a yawn. How long was she awake? She was still awake and the time was already past her bedtime. She should really get some sleep and her body was on the way on making sure she got some rest.

Her eyes were slowly closing shut while she's looking at her brother's face. Hamuko wanted him to wake up faster.

* * *

She woke up later, not having a single thing to dream which was weird for her. Dreams usually come to her, but for it to never come was confusing. The light coming through her closed eyelids and the cool yet not too cold breeze tickling her skin woke her up, assaulting her senses until she was already out of her non-existent dreaming state.

The first thing she noticed after opening her eyes was the bright light coming from the windows. It was shining bright and Hamuko saw some leaves flying through the window and landing on the seat. The second thing she noticed was her aunt near the open window, sipping a drink from a mug and talking to someone on her phone with her back behind her. Her voice was loud.

"…Say one more thing and I'll personally break your legs, Hisame. My sister and her husband are still alive out there and most likely brought to a different hospital than the one their children were sent to. Don't joke about that matter."

"…I know her husband and I aren't that close, I loathe him honestly, but he's my sister's husband. It's natural, Hisame. My sister hates you too, you know that, right?"

"…Alright. Call me when there's more news. I'm swamped here already with the stuff my nephew and niece got into. Thank the gods that they weren't in the car."

"…They must have let them out and have them run away since the two were at the bridge's entrance according to the response team ...Yeah, that's why I want you to check the other hospitals. They wouldn't let their children run alone in a middle of freak car accident if they could have done something about it in the first place."

"…Okay. Sure… Love you too."

She stood up from the bench, wiping the drool that had dried around her mouth and went to the comfort room in the room. There, Minako washed her face as quickly as she could, though having to stand on the small stool just because she was still short to reach the sink by herself took some time before she was done.

"Auntie was probably talking to Uncle Hisame," she muttered to herself, wiping the excess water on her jacket. "Mom and Dad weren't here so maybe they are at a different hospital. Auntie is right. They're out there. I'm sure of it."

She opened the door and saw their aunt was on her phone again, though she was now at leaniing over the window and looking outside, waving her hands in a weird motion.

"…You sure? …No, double check it. Check the dental records, birthmarks, anything. How could I face them if it's true, Hisame!? …No, I won't stand it. Until you can confirm its legitimacy, I won't accept it." Their aunt ended the call with a loud beep and turned around. She had a grimace on her face but once she saw Hamuko staring at her from the comfort room, she smiled. "Hey, Hamuko-chan. Good morning."

"Good morning," Hamuko replied. "…I-I'm hungry." Her stomach added to her statement with a rumble that echoed throughout the entire room, briefly interrupting the beeps done by the machine wired to her brother.

"Ah. I'll get some food from the cafeteria. You want anything specific, Hamuko-chan? Sandwich, Melon Bread, Chocolate Cornet, Cake? Anything?"

She paused and went to the seat beside her brother, the one she occupied hours ago. Taking his brother's hand, she noticed it was warmer than before, creating a faint smile on her face. "A-Apple St-Strud?" It was something her brother brought for her one day and it was delicious.

"Strudel. Apple Strudel. Heh. Sure," their aunt said, bending over to reach her bag. "Anything else? Drinks? I prefer you take milk, but today I'll go and waive it for now."

"…Nastea? Strawberry?" Her mind immediately went to a scene where her older self was buying lots of Strawberry flavored Nastea for two people wearing a pink sweater and a blue jacket. "Is it okay?"

"…Really? That's strange. Well, it's still tea with **authentic** natural-fruit-flavors so I guess your mom brought it for you. Strawberry is a new one, just released last month. Anything else?"

"Umm… Melon Bread and Crab Bread for Minato. Please," she added, fixating her attention to her brother. His face wasn't pale anymore and she hoped he will wake up sooner. "For Minato. He might be hungry when he wakes up."

"…Okay, I'll buy some for him too." She felt a tap to her back, making Hamuko turn around, and saw their aunt handing her a remote. A remote for… yes, the television. "Here, watch some morning cartoons or something. You might get bored and I don't want you to go out of the room."

Hamuko accepted the remote and nodded. Though she would have preferred to keep on watching her brother for any changes, much like what she did before she went to sleep hours ago, having a different method to pass time was okay. The moment she heard their aunt left the room and the door made a click, she pressed the switch and the television inside the metal box up on the ceiling flared on.

"…ports on the accident concerning the Kirijo Group's Gekkou- "

News. She flipped the channel.

"…anaka! Why would you choose her over me?! I thou- "

Her mom's dramas. She flipped the channel. Again.

"…arnet! Back together! And I'm never going down at the hands of- "

…That's new. A rerun. She already watched that episode. About a week ago or so.

The other channels were either news or selling some stuff through calling the phone so she turned it off and went back to her brother. Minato was still sleeping and even when she tried to shake him up briefly, he was still fast asleep. She huffed and stood up.

Making her way to the window, she climbed up on the stool her aunt was using moments ago and looked out. People were coming in and out of the hospital building she was in at the ground below and over at the distance, beyond the bridge she identified as Moonlight Bridge, was a tall pillar of gray. Smoke. Something was still smoking.

Probably a building. She glanced down and saw people in uniforms coming in the building on stretchers. They all had the same uniform, black skirts, shirts, pants, a red ribbon and a unique logo on the uniform from what she saw at her position on the 3rd floor.

 _'_ _The explosion caused lots of students in the school ill the next day. Though it was weird that the students dropped like flies in the middle of the day, it was jarring to everyone collapse because hours before the incident, a separate but similar scene happened at the laboratories behind and beneath the school.'_

…That was strange. Hamuko shook her head. Her mind immediately hid the weird idea of the students being in an accident at the back of her mind and returned to her brother. She climbed down and returned to her seat, taking the Jack Frost doll from the bench.

Hamuko examined the doll, it was dirty. Dust and dirt was all over the doll and Hamuko felt it needed some good washing when they got home, but there was one thing the caught Hamuko's interest. There was a tear, a weird tear that was so large that she felt she had snagged it at a nail. A nail… A nail so sharp that… The dinosaur mask.

She gasped. The dinosaur mask snagged a part of her doll when she smacked the dinosaur guy to release her brother. It wasn't a weird dream after all. She had doubts whether it was something she had imagined or not, but now that she had noticed the tear, what happened to her and her brother was real.

"But they didn't believe that the sky turned green and the moon was big and yellow when it happened," Hamuko muttered, inspecting the doll closer than ever she had inspected. The tag price was still there but the actual numbers were all faded away. "They laughed at me when I answered how we got to there. It wasn't funny, Minato. It wasn't funny."

Her brother made no reply nor made any sound, just silent huffs of breathing and the beeps from the machine responded to Hamuko's complaints. She stood up once more and placed the doll on her brother's lap, Jack Frost's smiling face in front of him while the torn portion of its back facing her. Zipping her jacket, Hamuko went to the door, planning to check whether their aunt was back and was talking to Uncle Hisame on the phone, again.

Silently, she opened the door, making sure not to make a single noise. "Wake up faster, Minato," she whispered, looking back at the blue-haired boy on the bed, before she went out and closed the door. Outside, Hamuko noticed a few nurses and doctors were walking around carryings papers and folders, there was even a nurse that pushed by a cart full of different colored liquids on it in front of her.

Her stomach grumbled. "Where's Auntie?" she asked, looking around the corridor for the lady in red. She found their aunt at the left side of the corridor with a plastic bag on one hand and her phone on the other. Hamuko quickly ran to her but she slowed down when she saw their aunt crying. Tears were flowing from her eyes and was already making a small puddle on the white tiles of the hospital's floor.

Their aunt must haven't noticed her coming to her because Hamuko was already in front of her, waving her hands, but she still has her entire attention on her phone. It made Hamuko grumble but she understood that maybe she was shocked about something. Maybe she won the lottery or got news about something cool.

Her mom did it once when she received a mail about their family winning an expense-free trip to Disneyland Tokyo. She cried there at their sofa and soon after, she and her brother joined in as well in crying, happy at the idea of having a free trip.

Luckily there was a bench near them, so Hamuko sat and waited for her aunt to come back to her senses. Just as she was about to sit down, she was stopped by their aunt with a pat on her head.

"D-Didn't I told you to wait for me in the room?" she asked Hamuko. Hamuko noticed their aunt hide her phone in her pocket and presented the plastic bag to her. "Here, take this. I'll catch up to you. Come on."

Hamuko nodded and grabbed the plastic bag. She walked back to her brother's room, rummaging through the bag for her preferred treat on the way. Idly, she saw their aunt stopped a few steps away from her and pulled out her phone. Hamuko quickly went in the room and hid behind the door, clutching the pastry on her hand while the bag on the other.

Although she knew it would be rude for her to listen at someone's conversation, many times she had been scolded by their mom and dad about eavesdropping, Hamuko couldn't help but to be curious why their aunt was crying. Was it because she's happy or she's sad?

"…What should I do, Hisame? What should I do? Please… Come here with me. I… I can't do this on my own."

Her aunt was… troubled? About what?

"…Please. Come faster. Hamuko-chan is getting antsy already, I feel she's searching for their parents secretly. She might not show it directly, Sis was a really shy kid when we were kids so I'm sure her personality is the same as her daughter, but I know she's just being strong for herself and… Gods, Minato-kun is still unconscious, Hisame! Do you have an idea what actually happened last night?!"

…It seemed to be so serious. And… was their aunt talking about them?

"…They found the two at the bridge… So what you're saying is that… Then why?! Why was she still looking for- No, did… Has she… For someone as young as her to block it out of her mind, it's… Listen to me Hisame, the nurses and doctors here told me last night that she was rambling about how the sky turned green and the moon turned yellow!"

…No. She had proof. Jack Frost got a tear at his back and it was the masked dinosaur's fault.

"She even asked what happened to the lady in white who was a robot and a dinosaur mask guy. Obviously she was delirious because of the blast! …I have a clear idea already, Hisame, so please. I need you to be with me here for them. I need you here."

Hamuko was about to open the door, confront their Aunt about the truth, when a groan echoed in the room. There was only one thing that could make such noise so she immediately ran to the bed, gripping the plastic bag while throwing in her partially bitten pastry. Passing by the corner where the comfort room was located, she saw Minato waking up and had his hand up the air, as if he was reaching something.

"Minato!" She tackled her brother, including the doll that was on his lap and was then sandwiched between them. "You're awake!" Hamuko looked up and then paused.

His eyes were still grey. She had ideas of him not recognizing her when he woke up, stories about the change in eye color affects the mind that her classmates keep on telling her, so for the pass 3 hours ago or so, she was afraid. But when Minato looked at her, she saw recognition in his eyes.

She smiled.

"Welcome back!"

What their aunt was planning to tell them, she understood from the overhead phone conversation that she had something serious to talk with her and her brother, it can wait. Minato was awake and despite the change in his eye color, he's awake.

And that's all that matters to her right now.


	12. xii - a step in the right(?) direction

She woke up with a gasp and sweat trickling from her forehead. Wiping it with the sleeve of her shirt, she fumbled around her bed and found the clock. It was 00:06. An hour past the distortion.

"Hamuko?"

She whipped her head around, searching for the voice in the darkness of the room, and found her brother looking at her. He was on his bed, sitting and leaning on the wall, with a book on his lap. Beside him, there was a night lamp that was then turned on, illuminating their bedroom with the small amount of light it can give. The moonlight coming from the small window high above them shone on Minato's book and, now that her eyes adjusted to the abrupt change in lighting, she saw his bed was neat and tidy.

As if he didn't sleep on the bed at all.

"…Y-You didn't sleep?" she asked, getting up from her bed. Hamuko then made her way to her brother's bed and sat down, grabbing the item on his lap. It was a notebook instead of a book. "You were… writing? Writing what?"

The redhead opened it and read its contents, her brother not stopping her from doing so and just watched with a blank expression. It grated on her nerves that his face never showed much emotion after the accident. The notebook contained…

"…You had weird dreams too?" There was a line about a boy about his age talking to him. "And you… wrote them down."

"I saw you writing down your own dreams, and I read them too. I want to remember my own dreams too," her brother replied, looking down and playing with the pen he was holding on, twirling it around his fingers. "I… I can't remember much, Hamuko, but I try to write what I can.."

She quickly wrapped her arm around her brother, hugging him closer. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm here." She had her own set of dreams and it really annoyed her that her dreams were about her older self. Her **alternate** older self. It was nice that she had dreams of being a much older girl but she noticed that her older self had no brother whatsoever. And it made her mad.

So she wrote it down on her diary, which was now a journal due to its size, about the things she can remember from her dreams about her older self. Mostly it was simple scene of walking around a city she felt familiar with a Shiba Inu. Then there were scenes of battling monsters with weapons in the same distortion she found her and her brother in whenever midnight strikes.

Initially, she thought it was something her mind made up. A way to combat sadness and grief, according to the books she read at their living room. But then she used the stuff her older self was learning at her school, mostly language and some math stuff she remembered in her dreams, that she discovered it was real. Her mind couldn't imagine a formula for the Pythagorean Theorem nor the stuff about magic like Shamanism on its own. She hasn't learned that those things exist until she researched the library and asked their aunt.

Hamuko stared at the open notebook and read a line.

 _'_ _He said he was sorry. He doesn't understand why he's here. He's stuck?'_

"…Hey, Minato. Who's stuck?" she asked, curious. "You or someone else?"

"…There's another boy in my dreams. He looked like me but he doesn't know where he was nor who he is. I think he's stuck. I actually forgot I had the same dream last week."

That intrigued Hamuko; she had the same dream last week about a scene of her older self talking with a boy who looked like her brother. But she hasn't written down that one yet, she had forgotten about it until Minato reminded her of the dream with his.

"So… Did you sleep at all?" Minato haven't answered her question. Her brother looked away and shook his head. "Really? Not even when Auntie asked us to go to sleep?"

"I-I slept. Woke up around an hour ago." She frowned and glared at her brother. "I didn't go out. Just… I just watched." She sighed and placed the notebook on the table beside her brother's bed.

"…Come on, let's get some sleep. We have a field trip tomorrow, though I guess it's later now, and we're supposed to leave around 8 in the mornin. I'll set the alarm clock." Hamuko got up from the bed and went to her bedside clock. She fumbled with the buttons in the darkness and mentally scolded herself on her foolishness. Inching her brother turned on moments ago closer to where she was fumbling, she finally managed to find and set the clock to an alarm around 6. "There. Enough time to get some rest."

She stared at her brother's expressionless face. "Minato," she started. "Get some sleep, alright." His brother nodded but he didn't even make a single grimace, not like he used to do. Hamuko shook her head.

"I really should ask some people, maybe some people at the shrine later?" she mumbled to herself, making her way back to her bed and pulling the covers over herself. "After all, we are going to a **religious** shrine. Maybe they can help. The doctors were no help at all."

The doctors couldn't find anything wrong why his brother's face was fixed on that emotionless façade. Ever since Hamuko, their aunt and uncle noticed his face not even making move when he was supposed to be scared, afraid or surprised when they got discharged from the hospital, all of them were worried. It was like he was bored and indifferent to the world but Minato wasn't feeling those feelings at all. He just can't _show_ it. And that fact infuriated her.

Minato tripped over the steps of the stairs and his knee got injured, a tear made from fall. Instead of wincing in pain or even shedding some tears, his face was stony. It all happened while he was spouting cries of pain from the injury.

Looking at the clock once again, Hamuko got reminded of the distortion she had just slept through. It then also reminded her of the first time the two of them experienced it. Unlike the doctors at the hospital, who gave her a mixed look of understanding and confusion, their aunt and uncle gave her **pitiful** expressions when she told them about what really happened at the bridge. How they ran from their car, how they scrambled away from a robot and a floating dinosaur guy and how the said dinosaur guy did something to her brother that he was in pain. Ever since then, Hamuko resolved not to tell anyone except those who were like her and her brother, those who are caught in the distortion where everything happened.

Their aunt and uncle weren't like them. They got turned into _coffins_ when midnight happened and when it happened the first time in their new house, she was spooked mad. Luckily her brother was there with her and they hid in their new bedroom until the distortion ended. There she once again noticed her brother not expressing his emotions in his voice nor with his face, despite his words conveying the actual terror he felt.

She thought back then her brother was trying to be brave, his face not even flinching to the sight of red much flowing from the ceiling and the walls, but she then learned he **couldn't**. Ever since the incident.

Hamuko bit her lip. There she was doing it again; it has been years since it happened. Years when their parents mysteriously died in a car accident. An accident where the two of them were supposed to be in but **luckily** escaped. She hated that she never noticed the two boxes inside the car were their parents but she quickly let the anger ebb. The car was leaking gasoline and if she and Minato haven't got out in time, they would have been caught in the blast that happened afterwards.

Still, their parents died. Orphaned early on. And there was the thing about her brother's strange affliction that none of the doctors were able to identify the exact problem. Everything that happened to her and her brother was so-

Hamuko tried and successfully managed to breathe slowly until she had calmed down. Sensing her brother turned off the lamp, she decided to go to sleep. They were going on a field trip and maybe the monks at the shrines could help her. There were rumors that monks were also doctors, doctors that deal with stuff that **scientific** doctors couldn't.

She resolved to get the two of them visit a monk that could help him. And perhaps help with the strange dreams they were having. It was really strange to know Minato had a dream about the same boy she saw her older self was talking to.

The redhead finally fell asleep after a minute of counting the stars she could see from the window of their room and plunged back to her dream of watching her older self's friends being hanged on poles in a widespread manner. Not even the dog was spared and it terrified her. Then the scene returned to where she woke up, an older man that being shot by a gun. A gun that was fired from a person her older self saw someone to be respected.

* * *

The shrill of her alarm clock woke the young girl, making her rise up from her bed and quickly check her arms for chains. She immediately stopped and sighed, thanking the gods that her alarm clock ended the nightmare. Staring at the ringing alarm clock, she pressed the 'off' button on it and got down from her bed to wake her brother.

Couple of minutes later, she and her brother was at her aunt's dining table, waiting for their aunt to finish the breakfast she was preparing for them. Although Hamuko preferred to have bread for breakfast, the bowl of rice and miso soup their aunt served for them was better in the long run. Thanking their aunt, Hamuko dug into her breakfast while making sure her brother ate as well.

Minato was a mixed bag when having breakfast, either he breathes the food like it was nothing or he left it alone like as if it was garbage. Hamuko enjoyed making sure her brother eats, primarily because it was fun to see her brother try to get away from having breakfast in front of their stern aunt. Nevertheless, her twin couldn't leave the table unless he ate his portion, which was always a plus for Hamuko.

His face was already emotionless for an unknown reason, his nature to sleep at class doesn't even help him get along with much of their classmates, despite having spent 4 years already with them. It was… hard for both of them, much more for their relatives who was saddled with the burden of raising them.

"Thanks for the food!" she said, placing the clean bowl on the table while wiping her face with her sleeve. Their aunt glared at her momentarily before shaking her head. "Come on, Minato! Let's get ready for the field trip!"

Her twin was almost done, thanks for the constant prompts Hamuko did while eating, so she waited for him to finish before she dragged him up to the second floor and pushed him into the bathroom. "You go first!" she announced before she ran back to their shared room and grabbed their own pairs of prepared uniforms.

When she came back to the bathroom, her brother was already taking a shower. While there's a bath at the side, a shower was installed by their aunt who loved the idea of having a modern bathroom, much like the ones she saw on television shows. She placed his clothes on the dry sink and went back to their room. As she skipped over to their bedroom, Hamuko grinned.

Today, they were going to have a field trip and she was going to do her best to find a way to help her brother by asking the monks at the shrine. Or shrines. She was sure there was something they could do or, at the very least, point her to the right direction. If scientific methods can't tell what's wrong, then surely spiritual or religious methods would. Some of the old ladies that come at their school even comment, from what she had overheard, that it should be the other way around if something weird came up.

Hamuko ducked beneath her bed and grabbed the bag she had prepared the night before. A couple of notebooks and a change of clothes were inside, one for taking down notes about the trip and the other for changing when she gets dirty or soaked with sweat. She also grabbed the bag her brother prepared under his bed and checked if he had done the same things as her.

"Cool, we are so prepared for this," remarked Hamuko, seeing the same thing in her brother's backpack. "Hmm… Maybe I should bring my journal. His too!" She then grabbed the notebook on her brother's bedside table and stuffed it into her own bag. She also then pulled out her own journal from the drawer of their shared study table and stuffed it as well into her bag. "There! Now the only thing left is…"

"I'm done."

Hamuko turned around and saw her twin standing at the doorway with his uniform on and hair dripping the last of the water from the shower. She smirked and grabbed her towel from the hanger on the wall, throwing it ahead to her brother's head. Minato let it fall on his head and then ruffled it on his own.

"Really, Minato. Your head still has some water left. Anyway, I'll be fast and we'll be on our way! Bet you that Auntie had prepared your favorite lunch for the trip," she said, taking the towel from her brother and walking out of the room in one motion. "Bring my bag with you! Please!"

"Ha. Ha," was her brother's only answer to her before she scampered to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Hamuko went down to the kitchen area to find Minato munching on a cereal bar (a rare scene for her to see) and reading a book with two bags at his side. The bag must be their lunchboxes, judging from the freshly wrapped towels around it. Their aunt was also there sitting across her twin, sipping on a steaming mug of tea. She quickly dashed to their aunt and gave her hug.

"Thank you Auntie! Glad you had a day off today." Hamuko grabbed and placed the lunchbox with the Pink Argus logo on its towel inside her bag, which was beside her brother, and the other lunchbox inside the other bag. "Well, we'll be off now! Oh yeah, you have a camera there?"

Their aunt smirked and gestured her to Minato. In response, Minato raised a camera that hang around his neck with a strap, partially hidden under the table ever since Hamuko came down. Hamuko thanked and said goodbyes to their aunt and followed her brother who was already making his way out of the house, carrying their bags while reading the small pocketbook.

"What are you reading Minato?" she asked, looking over her twin's shoulder. "Is that…? Where did you get that?!"

"Hmm? It was given to us a week before. You forgot to get yours? I thought you got one," her twin replied, raising the small pocketbook that had the label of ' **Sensoji** '. "Heh."

"S-Shut up. I didn't know." She huffed. They soon reached the overpass and just a couple of blocks, they finally reached their school. A couple of buses were already waiting for them in front of the school and their fellow classmates and students were lingering around the vehicle. There were even a couple of their teachers standing and looking out for the children. "Wow. This is going to be amazing. I just know it."

"It's only half a day," her brother remarked, closing the pocketbook. "And we're going specifically to Sensoji and Asakusa, not the entire Asakusa District. We've been there with Aunt Himiko and Uncle Hisame once."

"But it wasn't for school, Minato. We went to the amusement park _right next_ to the temple. And besides, we are going to visit the shrines there and learn their history." She twirled around and placed her hand on her hips while her free hand pointed to him. " **Educational purposes** , Minato. Educational."

Her brother rolled his eyes but his face didn't even flinch at the motion. "Whatever."

Hamuko sighed. She saw their homeroom teacher standing at a bus and was busy looking over a sheet of paper, so Hamuko grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him to their teacher. Once their homeroom teacher noticed them, he smiled and let them inside the bus, ticking their names off the paper he had while giving the twins each a number paper hanging on a strap.

The numbers they were given had a 9 and 10 on it. Hamuko gave it a look over and turned her attention to the people in the bus. "What. Where are the others?" she asked out loud, noticing that including her and Minato, there were only 10 people in the bus.

"The other classes are assembling in their classroom, Hamuko-chan. Our class' supposed to meet at the courtyard but since the bus was at the entrance, I thought it was nice to have my students get in it already."

Both of them turned around to their homeroom teacher and nodded. It somewhat made some sense but…

"But what if you missed some of our classmates?" Minato asked, making their homeroom teacher blanch. Instead of responding to her twin, their teacher stumbled down the bus and ran off towards the school. "Really."

Hamuko rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get the best seats in bus. Maybe you can even take a nap while we're waiting." Her brother pinched her side in response. "You're still gonna do it anyway."

Sure enough, Minato fell asleep on his seat beside her and was dozing quite soundly when their homeroom teacher arrived with the rest of their class. Apparently, the rest were waiting for their teacher inside their classroom and had a fellow faculty teacher watching over them instead of having to search for their homeroom teacher. Hamuko didn't bother to wake her brother up during the brief introduction done by the teacher and the tour guide the school hired for their trip.

It was new for both of their class and their assigned tour guide because according to her, the temple never allowed visitations done by schools before and only let people in normally without bothering to correct their assumptions on the temple. The tour guide joked that the monks there cared only for the donations given by the tourists and the earnings from selling masks and merchandise, making her and her fellow students laugh at the joke.

The ride wasn't long for they reached the place about an hour, the entire trip filled with banter from their homeroom teacher and the tour guide about the new things being implemented at the shrine. There were a few topics that seemed to interesting for Hamuko, making her take some notes on her notebook. Minato, on the other hand, slept through the entire ride and thankfully haven't drooled on her shoulder. She still took a picture of her brother with their aunt's camera, grabbing the camera hanging on his brother's neck.

Hamuko looked out of the window and saw the trademark lantern of Kaminarimon, along with the statues of what she recalled as some Shinto gods of wind and thunder. Surprisingly, there weren't many people going through the gate. She got up and poked her brother to wake up, rousing Minato and making him yawn.

With their respective bags on the backs, the two followed their fellow classmates down the temple grounds. Their homeroom teacher was behind the group, watching them and looking out if one of them would stray away from the group, while the tour guide was before them, speaking things that Hamuko wrote down on her notebook. Minato was busy taking pictures of the shops and the buildings they were passing through.

They passed through what she learned as the Buddhist temple of the grounds and went through several 'gates' that she had a hard time understanding of its importance. She decided to read more about it later and concentrate first on the various topics the tour guide was speaking of.

Overall, they had gone through several parts of the entire place, reaching to the point they had to take a break from all the walking. Good thing that there were few tourists visiting the place, making the entire trip shorter than they all expected, though all of them groaned when their respective homeroom teacher commented that the trip was to be continued the next year. Hamuko made no complaint, she had gone on a field trip and learned much from the tour. Why would she complain? Well, aside from making sure her brother keep up with the group. That was one thing she wants to complain about.

He was fascinated with taking pictures of the scenery. Some of the monks even went out and paused at the sight of Hamuko pulling Minato while the blue-haired boy resisted and took shots of the statues.

As she and her brother began to eat their lunch on a bench, one that was near the garden while at the same time a table away from the rest of the group in the canteen, a monk approached and sat down in front of the two. Hamuko looked up from her lunchbox and noticed their homeroom teacher nodding to the monk, ushering some of their classmates not to bother the three of them.

"Can I help you Mister?" she asked, placing down her food on the table. She nudged Minato beside her to give attention to the monk sitting across them, dislodging his concentration on the camera.

"I notice that you two are quite _peculiar_ when you arrive in the temple grounds." That gave Hamuko quite a shock, evident by how she placed her hand over her mouth to hide her gasp. "Not in a bad way, I assure you. Can you trust me to be a listener of the problems you two children have? I sense you two are deeply troubled with something."

"H-How can you tell?" Hamuko asked. "I…I was actually planning to ask some of the monks here about something but… I guess this works too."

"Hm…" The monk placed both of his hands on the table and curled them together. "Well, to start this off… Would you believe that there is an air of _'_ _magic'_ around you two? Especially your brother."

"…Yes," she replied. It wasn't hard not to notice. The two of them could move in a weird time and space that happens every midnight. If that wasn't _magic,_ then what else could it be? "Anyway, can you help my brother? He can't smile nor frown anymore and he had to tell us that he **is** happy but his face just can't… Well, his eyes still roll from being bored so I guess that counts so- "

The monk raised his hand, stopping Hamuko from rambling. He then gave them a very warm smile, one that made Hamuko a bit calmer than before. "Well, well, can we start from the beginning? I want to know more about how your brother's strange circumstances too. Maybe we, the monks here in Sensoji, could help?"

So Hamuko did. It was refreshing for her to tell someone about what happened to her and her brother 4 years ago, about how they ran underneath a green sky and a yellow moon with coffins replacing people, about how her brother saved her from being caught by a weird person with a dinosaur mask, about how his brother couldn't show much of his emotions through his face after that and how his eyes changed color. About how she could recall things that she has no way of knowing before, about how she had dreams of an older girl who she felt was her, about how her brother had recently dreams of a boy who looked like him and about her having a dream of her older self talking with a boy who looked like her brother. And lastly, about how they noticed weird chunks of black creatures that roam the streets when the distortion happens every midnight.

The monk didn't interrupt her nor didn't laugh at her words. He just nodded and Hamuko felt the monk accepted her words as the truth. Hamuko felt she had unloaded a lot of heavy stuff from her chest after she had finished speaking to the monk, her brother nodding in silence every once in a while as she was talking to the old man. She honestly felt the old man was required to listen to people as a part of his job.

She looked down, fumbling with her fingers and food long forgotten in the middle of her ramble. Hamuko was hoping the old man would help her, but she knew that it would be too much for the monk; it would also come across that Hamuko was being a bit demanding. A chuckle broke her thoughts and she noticed Minato return to taking pictures around them when she looked up. The monk across their table was chuckling, making her frown.

The monk must have seen her frowning because he said immediately, "Child, you have come to the right place. I assume that you have been to some doctors already?" Hamuko nodded. "Ah, of course they wouldn't find anything wrong. This matter purely spiritual based on what you told me and from our own experiences." That caught Hamuko's interest.

"…'Our own experiences'?"

Smiling, the monk continued, "Why yes, 4 years ago some of us, if not all, here in Sensoji and perhaps even at the neighboring Shinto Shrine, started experiencing what you call the 'distortion'." Hamuko's eyes widened, her hands scrambling for the pen in her pocket. "That's why I know that the 'distortion' and this dinosaur masked guy you spoke of has something to do with your brother's inability to show emotions."

She nodded. "That's what I thought too!" Hamuko paused, concerned about how did the monk got his conclusion. "Um, how did you got the same idea as mine Mister? Curious, that's all."

"Hm… Could I ask where did you two children came from before your aunt and uncle raised you?" That made Hamuko question why would the old man ask such a thing, but Minato answered him for her.

"Koto. Shinonome, Koto-ku. Our house was sold there about a year ago. We stay now with our relatives at Ueno," her brother said, not even bothering to look up to the monk. "Why?"

"Ah, so that's why you two don't have the necklaces prepared by the Ministry. We here were surprised when we sensed you two entering the temple grounds without the usual notifications being given by the ID necklaces."

"…What do you mean, Mister? What necklaces and what Ministry?" Hamuko asked, curious.

"Ah, I guess it falls now to me to explain you two the other side of our society." The monk then twisted his neck like what their aunt did when she got stiff-necked. "Alright, you know stories of how there are people with magic, right?" Hamuko nodded while her brother grunted in response. "I'll take that as a yes then. Anyway, normal people don't know that there's such thing as magic but there are some that have a talent with that."

"That's where the stories of being blessed by the gods come from. Well personally, we of the _'_ _traditionalists'_ believe that we those that have magic have been actually blessed by the gods but some of the _'_ _modernists'_ believe it's a different power that evolved from humans. That's not what I'm going to discuss to you two."

Hamuko hastily wrote down everything what the monk said while her brother listened like he was listening to one of their history lectures, half-bored with his eyes not fixated at the old man but instead at the surrounding around them. He still listened though, he just wasn't concentrating much on it. That was what Hamuko realized when she noticed Minato did the same thing a few years back.

She would have preferred he stopped it, but at the very least, he stopped **not listening** at all, so she just thanks whatever good things that came from her otherwise fruitless endeavor.

"You two have magic," the old man started, which wasn't a shocker at all. "Normally we would have ignored it but the alarms told us that you two don't have an ID necklace nor weren't registered as one of our mentees. We can't turn a blind eye on that alarm, obviously. Then you told me about how you two came from Koto and transferred to Taito because of your recent circumstances, am I correct on that?"

Hamuko nodded, mentally wondering what was the old man was getting at.

"Koto's magical government is under a family, much like how certain families own certain places as their own territories. Normally, the magical government in an area is connected to the rest of the country but Koto is special because the family who _'_ _rules'_ the area is a _'_ _modernist'._ Meaning, much of the happenings in the magical side there gets to be… filed in a modern way."

"Modernist… What does that mean, Mister?"

The monk scratched his head. "I really have no concrete idea, child, but usually _'_ _modernists'_ would follow the usual procedure in educating budding magicians like you through modern means. Cram schools and the likes, just like the one in Shibuya where there's a cram school that works with the Association of Shinto Shrines in teaching today's children on magic. I teach Sealing there by the way."

"Cool."

"Anyway, I think I've gone off-track. What made you two special is that you two are, for now, the only children with magic from Koto in 4 years."

That confused both of them, Hamuko with a raise of her eyebrows and Minato with him looking up from his camera. The monk noticed their confusion because he immediately continued, "As far as we all know, both of the _'_ _traditionalists'_ and _'_ _modernists'_ sides _,_ no one who has magic that went or lived in Koto 4 years ago returned or made any contact with the rest of us. They just… disappeared. And honestly, I'm pretty sure the rest of us would be happy to know that you two managed to get out of Koto before the widespread loss of communication with the magical government there in Koto."

"The Kirijos at that time announced they have no idea what happened to the magical side of their population because, frankly, I think they were already swamped with the destruction done by the various accidents at their facilities that happened that year. And add the fact that this… distortion happened at the same time the accidents in Tatsumi were reported, the Kirijos are in trouble with the Ministry."

Hamuko wrote down what she could on her notebook, intrigued by the new stuff she was learning from the monk. Her brother was also curious, since he was now in a very serious stance, attention completely at the monk and his hands at the side, compared to the bored-out position he had previously.

"But the Ministry can't do anything at all with the Kirijos, since Koto **is** their territory since early times and they are now widely known to the rest of the world as The Kirijo Group. They are so famous now in both sides of the world, magical and non-magical, that having them be tried by the suspicious disappearance of magicals in their territory would be quite a scandal to both parties."

She had understood almost half of what the monk was saying but she still kept on taking down notes on what he was saying, hoping that she would one day understand what she just had written. Everything he was saying was too complicated for her; 'tried' she understood but what does 'having them be tried' meant?

"Umm… Mister? About us? Could you help my brother?" she interrupted the monk who she now felt was rambling instead of helping them. Hamuko now understood what their classmates must have felt when she went on about Pink Argus.

"Ah, sorry. About your brother? Well, we can help you with it. Just- "

"Excuse me, sir. Forgive me for interrupting but my class would be going home from their field trip."

Hamuko turned to her side and noticed their homeroom teachers bowing slightly at the monk with a weird expression on his face. That caused Hamuko to sputter on her seat and hastily stuff her long forgotten things on the table into her bag. She had forgotten that they were on a field trip and not on vacation. Her brother beside her had already packed his own things during the ramble of the monk so he was only nodding to their homeroom teacher, who was apologizing to the monk.

The monk waved and laughed heartily at their homeroom teacher. He then pulled out a couple of wooden charms Hamuko identified as an _'_ _omamori'_ and handed to the two of them while saying, "Here, take this. I've spelled that to tell us or anyone who is in any of the shrines here in Tokyo that you two are special. I'll contact later those at the neighboring shrines about you two and what they need to know to help you."

"T-Thanks a lot, Mister," Hamuko said, bowing to the old man and pushing Minato's head down in one action. "We'll be going now."

"It's been a pleasure, child. Hope you two come here soon or any of the shrines here in Tokyo."

The monk rose up and walked away from their table, leaving Hamuko and Minato, who returned his attention to his camera, with their bemused homeroom teacher. Letting out a light laugh, their homeroom teacher asked them while he led them back to their group, "So… what did the monk talked to you about? He called me earlier if he could talk to you two with and I'm really curious why." They were already out of the temple grounds and Hamuko could feel the stares of their fellow classmates through the bus' glass windows.

Hamuko stared at the _'_ _omamori'_ she had tied to her bag. "I… I think he sensed Minato had nightmares, Sensei. I was surprised why he approached us and guessed that we had nightmares, so he had us talk about our nightmares." She didn't bother to tell him the rest of their conversation, he wasn't active like them because he got turned into a coffin during their camping trip.

That was one camping trip she wouldn't forget. Neither her brother as well.

"Well," he grumbled, pressing buttons on his phone. "They say that priests, monks and shrine maidens have a weird 6th sense for that kind of things, so I guess that's great. Now, get in. I'm gonna call the tour guides, the principal is getting antsy already."

Hamuko nodded, getting up the steps on the bus while watching out for Minato in case he stumbled over his feet. "Just what did you took picture of that you can't watch your feet?" she started, looking over her brother's shoulder when they reached their designated seats on the bus. "Let me see… Oh! Wow!"

The picture he took was amazing, simply put. It was like one of the pictures she saw at her aunt's magazines at the living room and Hamuko wondered out loud how did her brother managed to get that shot. She learned from watching television and asking her aunt that in order to get **that type of quality** of pictures, the photographer must be have either the tools to get it or have the **skill**.

And it seemed her brother have the **skill** to get those pictures. Really, Hamuko saw the leaves in the picture from the camera's digital screen and she couldn't help but feel it was moving. And there was how detailed the statues' faces were, something that she thought was possible given with how blurry photos were even with the brand new digital cameras.

"Wow. Just wow. You should take more pictures, they're great. Hey! Take mine! Come on! Take one!" She then grinned and made a pose, raising her fingers into a V, winking and putting her tongue out. Minato raised the camera and pressed the button, causing a flash of light to appear briefly, and even though he had a bored and indifferent expression on his face, Hamuko saw the amusement in her brother's eyes. After her brother took several pictures with her in different poses, Hamuko ended her pose, remarking, "Say, what do you think about the monk said earlier?"

"…Interesting. Should we visit soon?"

"Yeah, we should. Wanna bet we could haggle Auntie and Uncle to visit Sensoji again this weekend?"

"…No. Weekend Cleaning. Next week."

"Oh. Right."


	13. xiii - chance meetings

She opened another book and immediately closed it shut, lines appearing on her forehead and a snarl almost coming out of her mouth when she checked its contents. Its 'Table of Contents' part of the book didn't contain the topic she wanted to research and Hamuko was cutting close to the closing time of the Library.

Once again, she grabbed the last book she had on the table and scanned its contents, looking out for the words she wanted to read about and just like with the past 15 books she had scanned previously, the book didn't have the topic she wanted. Hamuko sighed, pushing the book towards the pile she had now accumulated on the table. She glanced at it and wanted to groan out at the scattered and disorganized pile of hardbound copies of literature and published articles. Thankfully the Library had made hardbound versions of priceless tomes and scrolls that were used before the Transition. The pile covered her entire table and she feared the Librarian or the Assistant Librarian would scold her for making such a mess.

The light coming from the windows was already orange with a tint of red, painting the pile with a hue of orange that reminded her of pancakes. Weird orange pancakes. Hamuko sighed and brought out her phone to check the time. Although the light of the setting sun told her it was already around 5 or 6 pm, she wanted to make sure she knew the actual time and not to base on her own conjecture. The screen of her pink cellphone showed 17:28.

"And just 2 minutes before closing time," she remarked, putting back her phone to her pocket and stretching out her arms. "Better get these cleaned up, don't want to get scolded again by the grumpy old lady." With a single sweep, she had all 15 books in one neat and orderly pile before she immediately went to segregate them into color. The books had been tagged with a unique color scheme utilized by the Library and it was practically an order made by the Librarian to do so if they could before placing them at the Return Trolley.

"I knew I should got the trolley with me." She looked around and found not a single trolley for her to tow the books back to the 'Used' area. Hamuko sighed as she sat down back on the seat. Slowly she tried to carry the large pile of books she had around her arms, only to notice something peculiar. The redhead stood up and searched around for the things she found lacking in her surroundings. "Hmm? That's weird. I swore there was a person-"

"Sitting three tables beyond yours? He already left half an hour ago. Anyway, you should be concerned of yourself first, Margaret isn't nice to those who doesn't follow her rules in the Library."

Shocked at the voice behind her, she almost made the books she had piled on the table but the owner of the voice hastily helped her in catching the falling books. Hamuko tried not to bit her lips at her mistake. Of course the person would notice her staring at him for quite some time. Despite searching for the topic she had made as her personal assignment, she can't help but admire the only person who had the guts like her to do some research in the Restricted Area of the Magical Sector in the National Diet Library.

"I-I'm so sorry. Sorry," she apologized, bowing to the tall guy who was picking up the books she had missed. "Uh, sorry for staring."

"…Staring? What the…? I was behind you. I told you, the guy at that table already left. You know what, nevermind. I'll help you out. You're practically the only person left in the entire library, aside from me, and I've been told by Margaret to fetch you." He then carried most of the pile she had on the table, leaving only three on it for her to carry. She picked them up and appraised the one who helped her. The tall guy had a brown beanie on his head and was wearing a dark grey turtleneck underneath a white dress shirt. He also wore black pants and black shoes and Hamuko felt the guy was a student or a part-time worker in the Library. "What are you even searching for? Margaret told me you've been here for about… 3 hours."

"I-I've been searching for Soul Magic, Memory Magic and Binding Magic," she replied, sighing. "I couldn't find anything useful at the libraries back in Taito-ku so I decided to check the National Library. Well, it appears that what I've been searching for was actually a lot more restricted that I thought it would be so I had to ask tons of permissions from the monks and priests at the shrines in Taito-ku, especially in Sensoji." She pulled out a bunch of ' _omamori'_ from her pockets and the light from the tall windows of the Library's corridors showed the authenticity of them. All 5 of the wooden charms had the seal of the Association of Shinto Shrines on their backside.

The tall guy laughed lightly at her words. "That's interesting. I'm also searching stuff about Soul Magic and I've been only allowed here due to my connection with a certain family. You're quite different because you said you got to have several permissions from monks and priests of different shrines at your place, right?" Hamuko nodded. "Margaret doesn't allow anyone inside the Restricted Area unless she knows you can be trusted."

"…How do you know that Senpai?" From the way the guy was talking, Hamuko felt he knew more about the library than her, thus automatically giving him the respect he deserved. Not to mention, he was actually helping her, which was always a plus to her. "She had to call the Elder Priest at the shrine near our place just to confirm that he actually gave me an _'omamori'_ of his."

"She had me fetch some medicine for her. Keyword: **Medicine**. Not just any medicine, special spiritual medicine that was halfway across the city. Felt like she was some sort of Quest NPC to me when she gave me that condition," the guy replied, placing down the books he was carrying on a trolley beside the reception desk. Hamuko brought up a hand to cover the chuckle that came from the insinuation of the Librarian as something not human. The Librarian had that sort of aura around her that Hamuko appreciated the joke. She was absolutely terrified when she called the Head Priest near their home. "So you're from Taito, huh? No wonder I didn't recognize the uniform you're wearing. Not that I'm from Chiyoda, I'm from Koto actually, but I spent some time here that I could recognize the uniforms of students going to the library."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I went here directly from school, though I texted my brother to tell Auntie and Uncle I'll be late. You're also wearing your uniform, Senpai. Went straight from school?" she asked back, placing down her own batch of books on the Return Trolley. Honestly, she didn't notice they were already at the reception area. She got entertained by the story of the part-time librarian. Or not. She was assuming things, again. "But you weren't in the library when I came in so…"

"Heh. I actually passed by here to check if there's anything new in the Soul Magic Section. Went around, you see, so that's why you didn't see me when you came in? I didn't planned to come here since I was planning to restock. Went to buy some medicine, some _somas_ , and any items needed for the Dark Hour." The guy immediately blanched. "Uh, forget what I said, okay?"

"…Dark Hour? Oh, you meant every midnight? Everyone learned how to deal with it, especially magic users like us," she nonchalantly answered back. What was he so afraid of? Maybe most of the ones he knew weren't able to move in the 'distortion'. "Though for some reason, normal magic won't work during the time except for magical artifacts, according to people I've met. Shrine keepers are lucky, you know that right? Their charms work like a **charm** because they simple _breeze_ through those creatures like a knife on a butter." She looked up to the tall guy and noticed him having a weird look. "You okay there, Senpai?"

"…Well, that's one way to fight those creatures," he said, placing both of his hands inside his pockets. "I don't know if I should tell you this but that's why I'm researching Soul Magic in the first place."

Hamuko brightened up. "Oh, me too. The priests noticed that the monsters are affected by 'soul' centered charms so they deduced that Soul Magic must have something to do with the monsters. Well, aside from my personal research, learning the ins and outs of Soul Magic **does** help me understand the monsters. Heard about Apathy Syndrome, Senpai?" The guy nodded, looking away from her momentarily before returning his attention to her, while segregating the books into different categories. Strange, but then again, most of the stuff she was researching were a bit… _eccentric_ , so to say. "Well, some of the _'modernists'_ discovered that the victims got their **souls** tampered with and theorized the monsters roaming every midnight got something to do with the tampered souls of theirs. But it is really hard for them to investigate since it is really unknown how to get one of the creatures **out** of the distortion. Hm… Dark Hour, huh. It fits." Since it **is** dark when it happened and it's technically happening in the middle of the **night** , calling the distortion as the Dark Hour somewhat sounds appropriate. She looked around the reception area and saw the Librarian wasn't there at her area.

The tall guy coughed out, breaking Hamuko's concentration briefly. "Okay, you better go back home. I'll take care of Margaret when she came back, alright? Oh and by the way," he murmured, shuffling some of the stuff in his pocket before bringing out an odd looking gemstone. "Here, take this. I can tell you have seen one of those monsters personally up close and I'm not going to allow you to walk away without me giving you a bit of help." The tall guy then dropped it in front of her, making Hamuko to catch it with her hands.

Hamuko inspected the gem; it was transparent and had a shine that made it look like a small oblong diamond. Inside the gem, however, was a swirling cloud of powder that she wouldn't notice if she didn't inspect it closer. "…Is this!?" She almost dropped the gem in her realization. There was a very expensive area of magical expertise in the world that involves gems and jewels alike, but due to how expensive acquiring said jewels, only a few of magicians in the whole world delve in it. However, the cost to afford and sustain such branch of magic is easily countered by the sheer amount of power and versatility that can be done with the jewels. "W-Where…?!"

"My friend has a couple of these gems and she gave me and my best friend a couple of these in case we got cornered by the… monsters. It has a teleportation spell imbued in it. Very helpful if you get cornered." His words just reminded her that he said he had connections with a certain family. The family he was affiliated with must be pretty rich to have a **'couple of these gems'** and enough to be given as insurance. "Don't worry. I always carry an extra with me everytime I go out nowadays, so that one I gave you won't be a loss to me. Not much, that is."

"T-Thank you, Senpai." She placed the jewel in her skirt pocket and went to the lockers where her bag was kept at. "Oh, before I forgot. Um, I'm kinda new here, so uh…" She knew she was gambling on the chance but the way the tall guy was referencing to his offhanded comment on Soul Magic meant something.

"Hmm?" The tall guy looked up to her from his position of rearranging several of the books on the trolley. "You need something?"

"Will you come back here tomorrow? I mean, you've searched and read the books about Soul Magic here so that makes you more _'in the know'_ than I am about the topics but if you're busy or…" Since he was only checking if there was new topics, that meant he already had shaken up the entire Library for it. Unlike him, she was only getting started.

He laughed at her, making her look towards the guy instead of looking down on her feet. "Yeah, I'm here tomorrow. Margaret said a new batch from England and America will be coming here tomorrow, so I'll be here checking those books." He then produced a book from the pile he had been lightly searching from. It was beside the Return Trolley and Hamuko doubt it was one of the books she had just finished scanning its contents. Maybe a loanable one? "I'll be taking this. Anyway, you better get a move on now. You still have a couple of stations to pass by before you get to your place, right?"

Hamuko nodded. "T-Thanks again, Senpai. Hope you can help me with my stuff tomorrow. Oh! I'm so sorry. I totally forgot to introduce myself. Arisato Hamuko from Rikkyo Ikebukuro," she said, bowing. "Please take care of me, Senpai."

The tall guy smirked, then said, "Aragaki Shinjiro from Gekkou-kan Gakuen. Pleased to meet you too. Ikebukuro? You said you're from Taito-ku, why go to Toshima-ku?"

"Private school, and it's the school where my aunt and uncle went to before. They enrolled both me and my brother there since Junior High, in fact we'll be High School Freshmen next year!" she replied, bringing out her phone to check the time. "You Senpai?"

"High School Freshman now. This opening, a sophomore. Hmm, Gekkou-kan is a private school too with elementary to high school facilities. Similar set-ups. Interesting"

"Anyway, thanks for the help Senpai! Hope you meet me here tomorrow!" She waved goodbye to him before she grabbed her bag and ran out of the doors. Aragaki-senpai, who went out of the glass doors, waved at her when she looked over her shoulder. The sight made Hamuko smile. She now had someone to help her, even though it was an upperclassman from a different school. Hamuko then pulled out her phone and started to compose a message to her brother, telling she'll be going home now. She sent it and by the time she managed to get on the train and was already in transit to Ueno Station, her phone beeped signaling her brother replied. She couldn't open it because the train was full and she feared maybe it will get stolen from her hands.

* * *

It was a simple 'Ok'.

"You could have added more effort, Minato," she muttered before returning the phone in her pocket. The doors of the train behind her closed, prompting her to get out and join the mass of people that were like her, commuting from one part of Tokyo to another. As she walked up the steps of the station to ground level, Hamuko passed by the pastry shop where she and her brother always bought her their respective favorite snacks. There on the display tray was a brand new, freshly baked, steaming hot batch of Melon Bread, Cheesecakes and some Danishes.

"Hmm. I still have left from my allowance. I shouldn't… Nah, who am I kidding?" Hamuko went in the shop and when she got out, she had box of Cheesecake and a bag of freshly baked Melon Breads and Strawberry and Peach Danishes. Who was she even kidding. Their relatives are rich and even before their parents died, they were certainly able to afford more than what other could. She and her brother were taught, however, not to squander their money on useless stuff.

"…This is food. It isn't useless. No, it **is not useless** ," she mumbled to herself as she walked down the streets towards her house. Her familiarity with the place she had lived for almost 8 years allowed her to reach the house without any problems, just in time for the sun to completely disappear over the horizon and the streetlights of the city to light the roads and alleyways with white light. Hamuko looked up and noticed she had already arrived in front of their house while she was convincing herself what she had bought was not useless.

"Hey, welcome back. What do you have there?" a husky voice questioned her the moment she had opened the door of the house, briefly muting the noise of passerbys and lingering people on the streets and vehicles outside their house. "Minato-kun told us you were at the National Library researching for a project. Were you able to get it done?"

"Not yet, _Uncle_. Just got started on it so I haven't made a scratch on it," she replied, smiling as she made her way to the dining table where his uncle was sitting on, reading today's newspaper and drinking coffee. Her brother was there too, doing things on his own phone and mp3 player. When the two men in their home looked towards her, both of them raised their eyebrows at the box and bag she had on her arms. "I passed by the bakery and I couldn't resist buying. I'm telling the truth!" Hamuko raised both of her hands after she placed down the box of Cheesecake and pushed the plastic bag to Minato, interrupting him from whatever he was doing on his phone.

Uncle Hisame chuckled. "Well, at least you bought Cheesecake for the rest of us to eat later. So, what have you been up to this day, Hamuko-chan?" She smiled to her uncle, taking a seat as she went on how her day went. Hamuko told his uncle how her brother managed to get away from sleeping for the twentieth time that week. How she had been to the shrine that afternoon and visited the priest that helped them with Minato's condition. How she had been annoyed with the books at the National Library and how she had met this Senpai that seemed to be both nice and… not-nice.

"Hmm? And why do you say that, Hamuko-chan?" Their uncle gave her a look of curiosity: eyebrows raised and mouth opened in an O shape. Her brother beside her didn't help her since he had agreed with their uncle's question by muttering 'Yeah'. "From what you've said, it seems that this Senpai of yours is a nice person."

"He… He referred to the librarian without any _honorifics_ , _Uncle_. And he seemed to have this… something about him that makes me think he went into a lot of fights. But!" She raised her finger up. "He said he will help me search through some of the books tomorrow, he also had the same project as mine, and he helped me clean up the books I had scattered all over my table."

"Heh. See. He helped you, so that makes him a nice guy." Hamuko let out a sigh.

She doesn't want to tell them that somewhere in the back of her mind, there was an image of the same guy headbutting a thug and dealing shoddy looking men and reverse colored goth in the back alleys of some city behind a theater. She also doesn't want to tell them that she had memories of a scene where the same guy had a gunshot wound, bleeding on the ground and rasping the last breathes of life he had, all because he had protected a younger kid from a gunman. Hamuko doesn't want to tell them that it's because of those memories that she felt the guy was nice and not-nice at the same time.

 _'But something is different. We haven't met before until we went to the hospital and he was there with Senpai.'_

"Dinner's ready!" Hamuko and the two guys on the dining table looked at the archway to the kitchen area and noticed Auntie Himiko carrying a steaming pot of what she assumed as soup. "Oh, Hamuko-chan! I thought you would be coming in late! Well, help me get the table ready! We shall be having pork stew tonight!"

After their small family of four finished dinner, Hamuko helped their Auntie Himiko with washing the dishes while the two men lounged at the living room, Uncle Hisame watching the evening news while Minato was busy reading the books he had borrowed from the libraries, both at their school and at the National Library. He was catching up on the the class he had slept through that day, which earned a chuckle from Hamuko at the kitchen arc.

"Hamuko-chan? Can you we talk later? After washing the dishes, of course." Hamuko gave their aunt a confused look but otherwise agreed to the request. "That's good. Oh and please, don't tell your brother about it after, if that's okay."

* * *

She was still confused when she and her aunt sat down on the dining table, the lights that were on was in the dining room while the rest of the 1st floor area was turned off. Her brother was up in their shared bedroom, already catching up with their best friend on the phone, while their Uncle was finishing up his leftover papers from work.

"Thank you so much for staying here, Hamuko-chan," Auntie Himiko started, placing down two mugs of jasmine tea on the table for her and Hamuko. The scent of the tea calmed down her nerves, according to their aunt. "I… I don't know how to say this but… Are you enjoying your stay at Rikkyo Ikebukuro? I know you and your brother will be High School Freshmen next year."

Hamuko thought hard what Auntie Himiko was getting to. She was sending out weird signals to her that the redhead felt their Auntie wanted to tell her that she and her brother were going to be transferred out by the end of the school year. "Um, Auntie, well, we **are** enjoying our stay there. It is much better compared to the school we've been to before transferring there." She was telling the truth. Their elementary school years were filled with teasing and bullying, all because her brother was unable to show emotions back then and because she seemed to be _different_ than the other kids of her age.

Well, that was _their_ opinion of her so she had no idea what was different about her compared to others. Not even Minato saw wrong with how she acted, though Hamuko could say she was pretty **mature** than any elementary kid. She didn't let their bullying get to her but instead, faced it on with her head held up high and scoffing at their _immature_ acts of showing their jealousy.

"Well, remember the day when your parents died, Hamuko-chan?" She hid her wince with her hand but Auntie Himiko saw it regardless, making her look away momentarily. "Sorry for bringing it up but on that day, your parents prepared you and your brother's high school education at an academy near your place. Where your old house was. Back at Koto-ku."

"W-What do you mean, Auntie?" she asked, confused. She was right, that Auntie Himiko was troubled on telling them they were being transferred, again, but why was she… "Oh, Koto-ku."

"Yes, Hamuko-chan. Though I really don't want you two to go back there, especially it would constantly remind you two of… them, a part of me wants to uphold their decision for your futures." She was correct on that. Technically speaking, setting up their high school education was their parents actual last actions before they got caught in the car accident. Hamuko remembered it clearly that they came from a school that evening and was caught up in a small party held by the school's owner until midnight, where their family got destroyed in the accident. "I got called by one of the staff of Gekkou-kan Gakuen this morning; about confirming the enrollment of yours and Minato's. I wasn't able to answer immediately to them though. The lady left me a number for me to call them regarding the decision after I wasn't able to give an immediate answer so… Still, the choice is still up to you."

Hamuko nodded. Auntie Himiko was right on not telling her brother about it. Ever since he was able to release his emotions again about a year ago, he was teetering on being apathetic and angry whenever he gets worked up. Due to the years of him unable to show any emotions (it was only a few years but honestly, a year was almost enough for Minato to almost get used to being _emotionless)_ , he got used to having a bored façade, making people think he was a stoic person, but in truth, he was anything but stoic.

For some reason, being reminded of the place always make him so worked up that all three of them, Auntie Himiko, Uncle Hisame and her were confused on whether he actually _loathe_ the place or he was not _that_ affected by the incident. Hamuko, however, knew why he was that.

Minato had forgotten what happened after he got caught by the dinosaur masked person at the bridge, but Hamuko remembered it clearly. He was screaming mad and Hamuko theorized a part of his mind blocked the incident and subconsciously his mind rejects anything that was connected to the said incident, including being reminded of the place. Traume, the priests and doctors both said.

"T-Thank you, Auntie. …When's the deadline of the confirmation?"

"Next Saturday, they gave me a week."

"…I'll think about it, Auntie. I also have to talk it through with Minato. I, uh, I better get up now, Auntie. I still have to go to the Library tomorrow."

Hamuko rose up from her seat, downing the lukewarm tea in one go and bowed down. Their aunt waved goodbye to her before Hamuko left the dining room and went to their shared bedroom up in the second floor. When she came to their room, Minato was already snoozing with his phone still lit on his hands. Silently, she approached her sleeping brother and picked up his phone. There on the screen was a picture of the person Minato had talked to on the phone, making Hamuko smile.

She closed it and placed it beside her brother before she went to the bathroom to freshen up. After she had freshened up and changed into her sleeping clothes, she sat on her bed with her phone as the only light in their room. The lights were shut off when she arrived so it would be a waste to turn it on, especially when she was about to sleep and her brother was already off in dream land.

She placed the phone on her bedside table, nudging a pouch down to the floor. Hamuko went down and opened the pouch, revealing the jewel she received earlier. She had placed it in a pouch after she got it from Aragaki-senpai and placed it on her bedside table. The redhead then inspected the jewel Aragaki-senpai had given to her earlier underneath the light of her phone's flashlight and she noticed that, despite its hard and blocky structure, she could feel it easily be crushed by her hands. She tried to hit with her flashlight but it didn't show any sign of being struck at, her flashlight on the hand had dent about the same size of the gem. Hamuko then tried again using her own hand and instantly, she felt power flow at her palm and it was coming from the gem.

The power was… questioning, for the lack of terms. Questioning whether or not she wants to be somewhere else. That made Hamuko release her grip on the gem, simultaneously cutting off the questioning power. "I'm gonna ask Senpai about that tomorrow, yes, I'll ask if that the gem is supposed to work like that and if it's a…"

 _'It's a Traesto Gem, infused with the spell Traesto in it. The same spell that would teleport you to somewhere safe.'_

"…Thanks."

* * *

The next day, she came to the Library with the books she had borrowed from the Normal Section and saw a strange sight in front of the glass doors. There was a girl crouching at the wall beside the door, looking annoyed and exasperated at the same time. Hamuko wondered whether she was new in the area or was just told to come at the specific area where the doors of the Magical Section of the National Library open.

She slowly approached the girl, making small steps so that she wouldn't disturb her, and heard her mumbling, _"_ _-hould have known the exact time the blasted library opens. I knew I should have closed my mouth back then, there's always a chance-_ _"_ Hamuko let out a small noise of confusion. The girl was talking in English and now that she was closer to the girl, she noticed her looks looked… different. She had eyes that looked different that hers and… Oh.

From her ramblings, she was either a tourist that got lost and decided to take a rest from walking or the foreigner that Aragaki-senpai had referenced to yesterday. She had the looks that Hamuko learned to be a common appearance of Caucasians, people that had a European origin, and was wearing what she assumed to be uniform of sorts. It looked to be too… formal for a tourist on a Friday: black pants, a white dress shirt and a grey vest or jacket that had its first two upper buttons loose.

Well, it **is** October and regardless of the sun shining down on them, the temperature was progressively getting cooler compared to last month's. Hamuko swore she even saw some of the leaves of the trees she had passed turning brown already. Halloween was around the corner and now that she was reminded of that holiday, she mentally noted to get a costume for her and their closest friend with a mole. Minato will be Pyro Jack, she will be Jack Frost and he will be Jack Ripper.

Smiling from the imagined scene in her mind, she approached the girl who wore the quite formal attire and asked, confident in her skill in speaking English, _"_ _Um, excuse me, are you here for the library?_ _"_

Not even bothering to look up, the girl replied, _"_ _Uhuh, but I forgot to get the pass card from my guide and here I am, waiting for the librarian. And there's the fact that I think I came too early and it's Friday here. Jetlag, I believe, made me get up too early._ _"_ When she finished speaking, Hamuko smirked when it dawned to her that someone was already in front of her and just had a conversation with the said person. She immediately stood up, dusting her pants and carried the box beside her in her arms. _"_ _Oh my! Sorry, um, can I help you?_ _"_

Reassured that the now obvious foreigner hasn't found anything to laugh at her English, Hamuko replied, _"_ _Thank you for asking but I'm fine. Maybe you're the one who needs help. Are you the one who's bringing in new books from England and America?_ _"_ She moved towards the locked glass doors and held her ID in front of the sticker saying 'NO ID, NO ENTRY'. _"_ _The library is open everyday starting from 8 am, but the Normal Section is open only during weekdays. And the Magical Section is allowed only to those who are permitted. Can I ask for your name so I could tell Margaret-san inside that you're waiting outside?_ _"_

 _"_ _Hermione Granger. I, uh, that's Granger Hermione, right?_ _"_

 _"_ _It's okay. It's okay._ _"_ She waved her hand, smiling at Granger's mistake. _" I_ _t's pretty common for foreigners to get wrong with the way we write and use names. I'll be right back._ _"_ The number of foreign guests that come at their school was indication enough for Hamuko to say that almost all of the foreigners get their naming convention wrong at some point in their stay in Japan. With that said, she went through the doors, unlocking for her after the wards registered her ID, and immediately shut when she was a couple of meters away from it, locking automatically through both magical and technological ways.

Hamuko soon arrived at the reception area and there sitting behind the desk was the Librarian of the Library. "Good morning, Margaret-san," she greeted the black-haired woman, bowing down. Her only response was pushing a sheet of paper towards Hamuko, at which Hamuko took and read.

"' _Sorry, I couldn't come. Something came up.'_ Eh? What happened? Is this from…?" The older woman didn't give any answer to Hamuko and instead, gestured towards the only television in the reception area. She then pulled out a remote under her desk and switched the television from video mode into channel mode, showing Hamuko a news broadcast.

"-vestigations about the last night's Arson case in Shinonome, Koto-ku are still being held while the people who –"

"…Oh." Now that she thought about it, people on the train were talking about how there was a fire that happened around midnight last night. Aragaki-senpai must have been affected by the fire or someone he knew was a victim. There's also the possibility he was helping out at the shelters? Shaking her head, she focused back on what she came to the Library aside from continuing her research. "Um, there's a girl outside the Library. Granger Hermione. Do you know her, Margaret-san?"

"…don't tell me she lost her pass card?" Although she was surprised by the husky sounding voice of the black-haired woman, she hid it by turning around and nodding. Sighing, the Librarian continued, "Here, take this. Give it to her and let her in. Oh, and have her bring in the books. Her being late even with the technicality of her not being let in would still affect her pay." At that, Hamuko inwardly winced at the casual dismissal of the foreigner's unfortunate situation. To have her pay deducted due to a technicality was a really _lousy_ way to lose some money. Granger must have been paid to deliver the books, after all, there was a _payment_ awaiting her at the Library's reception desk.

After picking up the temporary pass card Margaret had produced at the desk, Hamuko returned to the entrance of the Library. There she noticed Granger fumbling with her phone, like she wasn't used to having one. That confused Hamuko for it was the 20th Century already and phones were rampant even at third world countries, though for some reason they were still using the old models of phones that were already phased out nowadays.

Hamuko wasn't noticed by Granger when she came out of the Library, earning her a distressed monologue from the bushy-haired girl.

 _"_ _Should have gotten help from Mom and Dad about this. Stupid Ministry for telling us that technology and magic don't work together. Hah. Japan, China and Korea have made magic and technology work in sync ever since the early 90s! It was so obvious with how they were so 'advanced' in technology. Made sense why they're so good at it. Magic was used in tandem with technology!_ _"_

Hamuko would have wanted to hear more of the foreign girl's rants but the stake of Granger's pay for delivering the new orders of books was at her hands, so she did the only things she knew that would help. Interrupting her monologue.

 _"_ _Excuse me! I'm back! "_ she called out, intentionally making a ruckus with the glass doors of the Library by rattling like it actually make such noises despite the silence it usually has. The girl turned around so fast that Hamuko thought she would have fallen over after the twirl. _"_ _Here is the pass card and Margaret-san told me to say you should hurry up. Something about your pay will be deducted from being late._ _"_

That made the foreign girl's face fall from the small smile she had when Hamuko alerted her. Placing back her phone in her pocket, she accepted the card from Hamuko and thanked her. " _Um, could you, um, lead the way?_ _"_

The return trip to the Librarian was filled with nervous silence, though Hamuko felt that Granger was actually feeling nervous due to the possibility her pay deducted for real while her own nervousness was of the new books she would be delivering. Hamuko looked over Granger's entire body and question where did she hid the books she was delivering. Did she…

 _"There's a rumor that women have a magical secret space on their bodies that only they could access. It's called the Victoria's Secret Compartment!"_

…Stupid Ryoji!

 _"_ _Ah, there you are, Ms. Granger. You're late by… 18 minutes. Mrs. Delacour promised me that you are the most punctual-_ _"_

 _"_ _So sorry for being late! I was-_ _"_

Hamuko tuned out whatever conversation they were having. To her, whatever Granger would say would come out to Margaret like a sad excuse of an… _excuse_. Besides, it would be quite rude of her to eavesdrop and for all purposes, she really has no business with what Granger brought with her. Except for the books. The books were her goal.

…Then again, without Aragaki-senpai, she would have to scourge the entire library for the ones that would have connections, a solid connection, to Soul Magic, Memory Magic and Binding Magic. Just like what her parents and her relatives had taught to her and Minato, she should exhaust first the resources she had before searching out; better start tackling the books now that it was quite early.

* * *

 _"_ _-ank you so much! Um, do you mind if I do some reading here? My flight to Australia would be around 7 pm._ _"_

 _"_ _I gave you a temporary pass card. Exhaust it until it expires. Not using it would be a waste of resources, if you ask me._ _"_

She heard the last portion of their conversation when she returned from the restroom to freshen herself up. Granger was standing in awe from seeing the entirety of the Library, reminding Hamuko of her own reaction the day before. Sensing that the foreign girl would be appreciate some company or, in Hamuko's case, would be an excellent temporary partner in finding the appropriate book for her research based from the almost _yearning_ look the foreign girl had on her face, Hamuko approached the girl, greeting her and handing out her hand.

 _"_ _Um, hey. I'm Arisato Hamuko, uh, Hamuko Arisato, Ms. Granger. Sorry if I wasn't any help back there_ _, " _she opened, silently thanking the gods for the casual acceptance the foreign girl did by taking and shaking her hand. _"_ _I heard you were going to do some reading here and I was about to do some research. I was thinking if maybe you'll be interested in helping me, for a bit?_ _"_ Hamuko hoped the girl would accept her invitation, she really need help in tackling the books and Margaret was no help at all to her.

 _"_ _Really? You're asking me for help?_ _"_ Hamuko nodded and she could hear the girl look down and mutter about 'brand new start'. _"_ _I would gladly do so. What are you are searching for? And why me? Wouldn't the librarian be the first person you asked for help?_ _"_

She scratched her head and stuffed her bag at the lockers. _"_ _She believes we should be responsible with ourselves in the Library. I didn't believe it at first but then, she really only cares for the books. I haven't been here for long, just started going here yesterday, but I feel like she's the reason why the Magical Section of the National Library is surprisingly empty even on weekdays._ _"_ It was a wonder how she managed to have a decent _English_ conversation with a foreigner.

 _"_ _Ah, I think I can understand that. Back at my old school, there was this librarian that acts so similar to her. She had these spells around the entire library that would alert if someone had their voice above a certain level and if someone had sneaked in food. Then she would chase the perpetrator down and their House would have points deducted._ _"_

 _"_ _…Old school? Deducted points?_ _"_

 _"_ _Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm… I'm actually travelling to Australia and just brought books that were supposed to be brought by a friend of mine. Since Japan was a stop in our flight, I volunteered to bring them instead of her._ _"_ Hamuko felt she wasn't that comfortable with the topic. She let it pass by and tried to go with what Granger was directing their conversation to.

 _"_ _Uhuh, sounds you two are great friends for her to trust such a very important package._ _"_

The foreign girl laughed. _"_ _You could say that. She's from France and just came to our school because of some tournament. We really had nothing similar except that we both experienced… something during that year, enough for us to bond over and became friends despite our unusual circumstances._ _"_ Hamuko gasped at the implications, at which Granger immediately waved it off. _"_ _It's fine. It's fine. Nothing… too bad happened really. Anyway, what are you researching for?_ _"_

They both stopped at the middle of the large hall, towering bookshelves of books surrounding them along with countless tables and chairs. _"_ _Soul Magic, Memory Magic and Binding Magic. Um, sorry for bringing it up_ _. " _

_"_ _It's okay. It has been a year already and honestly speaking, I'm quite thankful for it. It allowed my eyes to see what was really happening in our school and country that…_ _"_ Granger looked away and stared at the window. Hamuko noticed there was a small tear forming under her eyes. _"_ _At the very least, my parents were supportive of me and even my friend's parents. In fact, they even suggested we should go and move to somewhere away from England. Coincidentally, my dad had received a job offer from Australia and I immediately encouraged my parents for us to move as soon as possible._ _"_

The girl wiped the forming tears off her eyes. _"_ _Enough moping around, let's start with the S Section. Then tell me which books you have read already so we can check off them from the list_ _,"_ Granger said, walking ahead from Hamuko. Hamuko inwardly chastised herself for being quite insensitive. But the girl had waved off the pity and assured her she was already over it. Then again, she was travelling to Australia to get a brand-new start, so perhaps she really was **over it.**

Around lunch, the two stopped from their research when Granger's phone shook in her pocket, interrupting whatever scanning and reading they were doing. She checked it and had excused to Hamuko for leaving quite early. It was already time for her to get back to the airport and she had to get there before the airplane left her. Hamuko thanked the foreign girl for her help and wished her good luck on her trip and her brand-new start at Australia.

Hamuko spent another hour on reading and writing down on her notebook until she felt she was hungry, prompting her to end her personal research and decide to get some lunch and go back home. The books Granger had recommended to her were really useful and had topics that clearly had known what they were talking about. Her almost _sinful_ and _mouth-watering_ expression on her face when she gazed at the rows of books weren't unfounded at all, for the foreign girl certainly knew what, where, and how to find the books she needed and the topic she desired from the library.

Collecting the significantly shorter than what she had yesterday stack of books, the redhead brought it to the reception desk and placed them in front of Margaret, one-by-one. Margaret just gave her a look before scanning the books on her computer and made a note, allowing Hamuko to borrow them from the Library. She also gave Hamuko a plastic armband, the same type that she saw her uncle brought one day that was so hard to pull apart and had to be cut with scissors just to get it off, and told her, "That won't come off until you returned the books. Not even scissors will cut them. You don't want to know what will happen if you miss the deadline."

Hamuko nodded, mentally shivering from the warning Margaret gave to her. If that was her normal way of treating visitors to the Library, no wonder people weren't flocking in. She said her goodbyes to the Librarian, packed her things up and rushed out of the place.

* * *

After she had enjoyed and gorged herself on two special bowls of ramen at the noodle cart beside Ueno Station, Hamuko made her way back to their house, towing the books and her bag with her in. Surprisingly, the house was empty and locked, with a note on the front gate from Minato, telling her that he went to hang out with Ryoji. There was also another note from their Aunt and Uncle saying that they were out on a date.

"Sheesh, those two are still feeling young even though they are old enough to be called seniors," Hamuko mussed as she fumbled her bag's pockets for the house key. "Really, what are they? Teenagers? We, the _actual teenagers,_ should be the ones doing the dating, not the other way around."

She unlocked the door and immediately honed to the room she shared with Minato. Tossing her bag to her bed, she then went to boot up the computer at the side of their bedroom.

"What could have made her and her family move out of England?" Hamuko asked, pressing keys on the keyboard. Although the foreign girl had said she was over the incident she had referenced to during their conversation, Hamuko felt it was far from over. Why else would she _run away_ if it wasn't serious enough to _scare her and her family_ out of their own country? "From the way she said it, I would have said she was a refugee… That's it!"

Refugee. The foreign girl was like a refugee and refugees exists only when there is a conflict so large, it could be classified as a war. And what kind of war that would exist only in such a small country like England other than a Civil War. It also applied in America since the country had a history of several small-scale civil war as well. And there's the fact she was a magical and from the words she had spoken to Hamuko, the conflict was certainly magical in origin.

Accessing the network that was accessible only to those who are in the _'modernist'_ faction of their magical society, Hamuko searched the online articles about Foreign News and learned about a country-wide terrorism movement happening in England. The more she read about it, the more Hamuko felt bad for the foreign girl. She also felt bad for the Japanese Correspondent of the Japanese Ministry because she hadn't escaped the country without injuries, based from the afternotes on her article.

"-currently is recuperating for quite some time. The Ministry had released a blacklist on England and a notice to the public not to take any trips to the said country until the blacklist has been lifted. Despite our country's alliance with England, it is hard for our Ministry to send aid to England due to how their Ministry has been taken by the terrorist group known as – "

Hamuko closed the browser and ended the network connection. Granger had helped by teaching her the tricks of the Library. The only way she could pay it back was not to delve further in her past. It was disheartening already for a foreigner like Hamuko, how much more it was for a native like her?


	14. xiv - a connection, established

"Wait! You're serious?!"

 _"Of course, I am! Why am I not?"_

"Because this is.. Wait! Is this because Ryoji's grades weren't that high and he had to stay a year before he could apply again for a transfer?"

 _"…"_

"Oh it totally is! Why couldn't you just say so?"

 _"…You're just going to tease me."_

"Pshaw. Minato, I'm over teasing you. I'm just waiting the time you will admit that you have a crush at him."

 _"I. Don't. Have. A. Crush. At. Ryoji!"_

"Deny all you want. You know in your heart it is true~"

" _Augh!"_

"Man, you're so easy to tease~ Anyway, thanks for the heads up, Minato! I'm gonna try and convince the people at Gekkoukan to hold your application 'til next year. You better start convincing that blockhead to study hard in order for him to get the scholarship they had. It wouldn't be the same without him there, right Minato?"

 _"…Whatever."_

 ***click***

Hamuko shut her phone and placed it back inside her bag. Riling up her brother was the best way to calm her nerves. Even though the train was shaking and its vibrations were affecting its passengers, they stand no chance against the shaking nerves of hers. It would be the first time she would be coming back to the place where she was born and raised for 8 years. Back to the place where Minato and she lived at before their parents' death.

The moment the train came out of the underground tunnel, she felt something went through her, making her shiver more pronounced than ever and a very weird urge to turn around and run. Hamuko steeled herself, reminding herself it was only her nervousness coming through. Soon enough, the train stopped at a station called Iwatodai Station. She checked the train map on the train.

It was the designation for the train in the Shinonome area and it was the only station connected to Port Island Station, the sole station on the man-made island of Tatsumi Port Island. Hamuko looked out of the train and saw the glistening shine of the strait made by the mainland and the man-made island. She checked her phone, it was 7:42.

Soon enough, people were coming in the train. Hamuko moved, allowing other people to know that she wasn't taking up the entire space of the seat. Some students wearing a uniform with a peculiar logo came in as well and the sight reminded her of how lucky she was. She doesn't know how Auntie Himiko did it, but she somehow managed to get an excuse slip for her from their school. The students of Gekkou-kan were slowly filling the majority of the seats on the train, with some occupied by workers of the establishments in Tatsumi Port Island. Hamuko turned her attention to the folder she had on her lap, hidden beneath the bag she was carrying.

She didn't pay any attention to the seat beside her, focusing on the papers Auntie Himiko had given to her. There, Hamuko found papers of her school transcripts, certificates of good moral and a copy of her birth certificate. Minato's was there as well, which made sense since she was bringing in copies of their credentials to another private school. She also noticed there were papers inside the envelope that couldn't be classified as their credentials, but instead as… utility bills?

"What the…?" she muttered, picking out an electric bill she had personally paid at the Bills Payment Center just a few weeks ago. "Why would Auntie need to send me these?"

"Maybe it's because the school could decide whether or not you are qualified for a scholarship, or at the very least, a reduced tuition fee."

Hamuko looked at her side where the voice came from. It was the same guy from the library.

"Oh, Senpai! Good morning," she said, returning the paper back inside the envelope. "W-What a surprise."

"My thoughts exactly. Why are you here instead at your school? Its Saturday." He pointed to the attire she was wearing. "You even had the gall to wear your uniform even when you aren't attending."

"H-Hey! I have a legit reason to be here!" she said indignantly. "I'm here to personally deal with my education! I just wore this because of the discount. And I'm not really skiving off, Senpai. I'm excused from my class today just for this."

"Heh. So you came from your school but got excused to leave afterwards?" Hamuko nodded. "Sounds a lame excuse but whatever. It is legit, especially when you have those utility bills with you."

"Hmm? You have an idea about this Senpai?"

"Yeah. My friend and I are scholars of Gekkou-kan, so we had to deal with showing proof that we need the scholarships every month or so. Well, technically I am the one doing the dealing while he goes to do his club activities."

The train lurched and began to move, slightly shaking its occupants when it started to leave the station and cross the bridge to the man-made island.

"Wow. That's… amazing. A scholarship. You must be smart, Senpai." He just dignified her with silence. "My parents had set up our high school education be at Gekkou-kan 10 years ago, I just came here to confirm it. Honestly speaking though, we all forgot that they had prepared our education all those times."

"…What happened?" Hamuko turned to the window behind her. The school campus of Gekkou-kan could be seen from their position on the train, allowing Hamuko to see the campus compost almost half of the entire area of the island. There were even small and large windmills peppered at the coasts of the island, probably to supply electricity to the entire island. "…It's okay if you're not going to tell me. I understand."

"Huh?" That caught her attention, prompting her to turn around and stare at him. "…Oh. That makes sense. Scholarship." A small smile came to her lips. "Seems that we have much in common huh, have to watch out a little brother all by ourselves, right?"

"Not much of a little brother but more like my sole indispensable sibling," he said, smiling as well.

"You got that right," she replied, the memory of reminding Minato to follow her and Ryoji instead of taking pictures of the festival sights a year before coming to her mind. "By the way, are you okay, Senpai? I heard of the fire and you left a note to Margaret-san quite early in the morning. Oh, and before you scold me, our school had a day off that day so you can't tell me that I've been skiving off."

"You heard about the fire huh. Not really that surprising since it was big enough to burn all those buildings." He shuffled a bit on his seat, earning a grunt of discomfort from the salaryman beside him. "Me and my friends were out that night, doing patrols since we are members of a neighborhood patrol in these areas, and we were there when it happened. We rescued a kid before it all went worse but his entire house went up in flames. Along with its occupants."

Hamuko gasped. "Is he okay? No, obviously, he isn't," she remarked, her own experience with loss reminded her of the feeling of hopelessness. "So that's why you weren't able to visit the Library. Margaret was so moody the day after, you know, and she targeted me because of it."

Aragaki-senpai must have noticed her changing the subject, with him smiling lightly. "Did she had you rearrange the books by topic?"

"She sure did!" The train stopped, followed by a system announcement voiced by an electronic female voice, alerting Hamuko. "Oh, we are here," she remarked, waiting for the other passengers of the car to empty the train. She also noticed that Aragaki-senpai had stayed behind, probably having the same idea as hers.

"Hey," he said, catching her attention. "You're going to the school, right? Follow me then, it's better to have a guide than you fumbling around the entire place."

"T-Thanks a lot, Senpai."

"Hey, if anything else, you'll be my Kohai next year and I could really use a helper. No, minion would be better," he said, placing his hands at his pockets.

"W-What did you say?!"

Aragaki-senpai didn't bother to answer her demands, instead he simply shrugged and gestured her to follow him out of the station. Hamuko, finding no reason not to, huffed and patted down her ruffled up skirt and dress shirt. She started to follow the older guy's footsteps, taking in her new surroundings at the same time.

With a theater, a flower shop and two hidden bars at the alley next to the station, Hamuko could imagine how hectic the entire place be after 5 pm, or after the school on the island ended their classes. The flow of people continued on the street, just pass by the theater, and ending at the front of what she identified as a pedestrian lane with streetlights. Aragaki-senpai was standing a few meters away from the main bulk of pedestrians, looking around in search of something. Or someone.

The girl immediately scrambled towards the older guy, just in time for the streetlight to turn green and the bulk of people to cross the street. The guy with a beanie shrugged at her flustered state and went on to cross the street, silent throughout the entire walk. Hamuko couldn't find in herself to talk either, the buildings in the small-scale city was impressive. There were shops, offices and many more she could even think of. At the distance, she saw an impressive looking building complex that she vaguely remembered being a construction site 10 years ago.

As if a veil had been lifted from her eyes, the moment she had turned around a corner where Aragaki-senpai had passed by, Hamuko was in awe at the school's façade. The main building had the grandest glass windows she had ever seen on a school building. There were even cherry blossoms lining the school courtyards that she just had to make a remark.

"Did I just went in a manga series or something? Next thing I'll know is that there's a very expensive vase in the middle of the hallway."

"Sorry to break your dreams but there's no host club in this school. Though there **is** a very expensive vase in the middle of the front hall, I'm sure it was excavated somewhere here when the Kirijo Group started building the island."

Quickly turning around and ducking, Hamuko recognized the person that spoke behind her. She almost cursed his name but she took a deep breath instead.

"S-Stop surprising me like that, Senpai!" Hamuko exclaimed, releasing the tension through her voice. "But seriously, there's no host club like that here? At least, the cherry blossoms aren't blooming all year-round here, unlike in that manga."

"Some tried once, it didn't get through the school board. You could try and appeal when you start here next year, if you're brave enough. It would be amusing to watch, to be honest," Aragaki-senpai said, shrugging. "Come on, the Administrative Building is around here. This building here is where all classes are held and the faculty office is found. The one where all the records of the school's students and faculty members are here at the left."

Instead of going through the front hall's glass doors, Aragaki-senpai had led her to adjacent building on the left of the building, one that looked quite similar to the previous building she had passed. He opened the glass doors for her and she immediately noticed the vast difference the Administrative Building had compared to the one she saw through the windows. First, it was empty of students lingering except for the ones that were paying over what Hamuko assumed to be a Cashier Booth. Most likely to pay their tuition fees or whatever expenses they have raked over the entire year.

There were rows of steel chairs, the one she usually found at terminals, and 4 booths that caught Hamuko's attention. That was the second thing she had noticed. Third was that it was only the first floor, there were more floors above her and Hamuko theorized that those at the upper floors were the school's archives, school board meeting room, General Superintendent's Office, Accounting Office and much more. Private schools the size of an island surely must have the same faculties as the universities Auntie Himiko had brought them at one day.

Aragaki-senpai approached the booth with a number 1 on it and tapped the glass. She couldn't hear much from what he was talking but from the expression the man had across the glass, he was absolutely familiar with Aragaki-senpai. There was no apprehension and instead, there was familiarity.

"Oi, Arisato! Come here. Give you papers to Kasai-san here and sit down there. I'll handle this for you."

Hamuko gave him a stare. "A-Are you serious Senpai? Won't you be late in class?"

Aragaki-senpai shrugged. "Not really a problem."

"If you say so," she muttered, handing the large brown envelope she had to him. The man took the envelope from Aragaki-senpai after he slid it under the glass and took out its contents, examining one by one while making inputs at the computer in front of him. "Do I want to know why the man across the glass knew you?"

"Member of the school's owner's daughter's club, dormmate and a friend."

"…Ah." If she remembered correctly, he **did** say he had connections with a certain family. Gekkou-kan Gakuen is owned by the Kirijo Group and the Group was led by the family of the same name so… that made some sort of sense why the man knew him, to the point he was already accustomed to him. "That's… something."

"You have no idea."

Silence returned as Aragaki-senpai leaned on a pillar while Hamuko stood patiently for the processing of her and her brother's credentials. The man behind the glass was calling someone on the phone when he tapped the glass, gesturing Hamuko to come closer.

"Well, all things are in order. The payment for your high school education is in order and your school already agreed to accommodate the transfer. Your brother on the other hand, decided to transfer the year after…? Why?" the man asked.

"I can't say for my brother, sir. Personal reason. Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no. No. This is a private school; we have dealt much worse like a transfer in the middle of the school year and surprise drop-outs. Just curious. and the Principal wanted to know why. Background information, you know. Well, Arisato-kun, welcome to Gekkou-kan Gakuen. I hope you will enjoy your next three years with us."

"T-Thank you so much, sir. I do hope so, sir. I really hope so."

"Hm… Oh, before I forgot, can you give me a bank account that is connected to your brother, yours or your guardian? Since he won't be coming until his 2nd year, the tuition spent will be reimbursed."

"Oh, alright."

After she gave Minato's bank account, one that he apparently made about a year ago all thanks to one Ryoji Mochizuki, Hamuko searched for the guy that accompanied her to the school's Administrative Building. He was nowhere in sight, leaving Hamuko confused as to where he might have gone to. She checked her phone's clock. It showed: 8:37.

"Huh, time sure flies. Should I… Hmm… Let me check my checklist," Hamuko muttered, bringing up the list she made on her phone. "Enrollment, confirmed. What's next…? Uniforms. Okay."

"Um, sir?" She tapped the glass on the booth, alerting the man beyond it who was typing some documents on the computer. "Is there a school store here? For the uniforms and the like?"

"Check the Food Center, it is where the Cafeteria and other stalls allowed by the school to operate are found. It's the third building from here, passing the Gekkou-kan Main Building. There's a map there at the wall, if you haven't noticed it yet."

"Thank you, sir. Sorry to disturb you."

Sure enough, there was a map of the entire campus. Hamuko gaped at the proof of how large Gekkou-kan Gakuen was. There were lots of buildings in the campus and it was divided into three locations: Elementary, Junior High and High School. And there was also the unofficial and secret 'University Campus', which was the rest of the island, according to the forums she had lurked the night before, that was exclusive only to those that caught the eye of the Kirijo Group's higher-ups.

It basically worked as an internship, though how that even worked in reality since it was only a rumor, racked Hamuko's head all night long.

"There's the Elementary Campus… The Junior High… Oh, here's the High School. Wow, a track and field and a swimming complex? Better check that later. Where's the Food Center…? Oh, there it is!"

She memorized the route to the said Food Center and walked out of the Administrative Building. Putting on her own set of headphones that Minato bought for her, she made her way to the Food Center, admiring the beauty of the new school she'll be attending the next year. A bitter smile then forced itself on her face as she got reminded that her brother won't be attending with her there.

But it soon disappeared, with Hamuko saying softly, "He sure did take his time, getting the courage to act on his own feelings at the very last minute." Good thing Minato had told their teachers about his plan to stay for a year before she got to Gekkou-kan. He would have been gloomy all year round without Ryoji with them, much more being in Koto-ku. Minato, for the lack of words, _raged_ when she told him about their enrollment at Gekkou-kan.

He did simmer down the next day but his feelings about not coming to the place until he is ready to come back stuck hard to her, Auntie Himiko and Uncle Hisame.

* * *

She spent the entire day touring the school after a member of the school's staff approached her at the Food Center. It happened after she had checked the school uniform that was being sold at the school store and had her early lunch, courtesy of the food being sold at the Cafeteria. Students were in their classes during the tour, which meant Hamuko wasn't able to see what kind of classrooms she was going to be in for the next 3 years. It would be rude of her to barge in a class just to see the classroom, especially when there's a class going on inside.

But there was one thing that caught her interest: the library. She read on the online forums how rich it was, but to see it personally was amazing; Hamuko swore she saw some college-level books on the shelves like the ones Auntie Himiko had brought back home in order to finish an exam. She was then reminded of the foreign girl she met a week before and the tips she had taught to her. The redhead resolved to use the same tricks Granger had taught to her.

All in all, the school tour was severely limited due to how it wasn't the time for a school tour to be held. But it was enough for her to understand why her and Minato's parents decided to have their high school education be at Gekkou-kan Gakuen. The facilities were great and the education was of high quality. Sure, there were some schools out there that could rival Gekkou-kan but it was the school their parents had wanted for them. Literally their actual last want for them.

After she said her farewells to the teacher that made various questionable remarks, Hamuko strolled down the streets of Tatsumi Port Island to the site where she remembered to have a mall being constructed 10 years ago and she was surprised to see the mall constructed and bustling with life. Inside, she noticed there were several shops for her to shop, an arcade to play, and even a club and a karaoke bar to… hang out. The last two were questionable for how it was even open so near at a school but Hamuko knew some things couldn't be explained easily, just like how she couldn't explain why she was caught by their Aunt outside their house when a minute ago, at her perspective, she was sitting at the couch and watching midnight replays of television shows.

Surprisingly, she discovered just why she couldn't find the same model of her favorite Jack Frost doll in Tokyo; the one she had for almost 8 years could only be found at Tatsumi Port Island. Hamuko questioned the owner of the arcade where the said doll was being presented as a prize came from and discovered she had an exclusive contract with the manufacturer of the said dolls. Since her doll was already worn out, Hamuko decided to get a brand-new version of her favorite doll.

"Come on, little Jacky~ Come to mommy and together we'll show the people of Shibuya who's the best in the costume department~" she sing songed, inserting another token in the crane machine. "You know we are meant to be~"

"Just what are you doing?"

"Getting a new Jack Frost doll, that's what I'm doing~"

"…Since when?"

"After lunch, of course~ Just, come one game, let me get him~"

"Arisato, it's almost dark."

Hamuko whipped her head and noticed that the streetlights outside the mall's doors were not lit. She looked up and saw the glass roof of the mall showing the stars.

"…Oh crap!" She pulled out her phone and cursed inwardly. She forgot to turn off the silent mode, all thanks to that teacher, and now her phone was full of e-mails and missed calls. Hamuko skimmed through her inbox and winced. They're all from Minato and most contained: ' _Hamuko? Where are you? It's late. '_

"Minato's going to be so mad at me. Thanks for the interrupting me," she said, looking up to thank and only to be surprised to see the person responsible. "Senpai?!" Aragaki-senpai was there, plastic bag on one hand and his school bag on the other, and wearing the uniform of his school, just like the morning earlier, only modified with replacing the dress shirt with a turtleneck sweater.

"Now I'm going to think you **are** skiving off, Arisato. It's almost dinner time. Don't tell me you've spent the entire afternoon trying to get that doll?" he asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"I-I… Maybe? I didn't notice it was already that late! Oh my god, does the station have a direct link to Ueno Station?!" she asked while composing a reply to Minato detailing how her phone was on silent mode and got caught doing something important. She pressed 'Send' and then realized the mistake immediately after it was sent. "Oh my god. What should I do?! I told Minato I was busy doing important! Is 'playing at the arcade' doing important?!"

Aragaki-senpai placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from shaking around. "Uh, come one, let's get you on the train. My friends are waiting for me outside. Maybe they can help you with your problem," he said as he picked up her bag at the foot of the crane machine. He also pushed Hamuko forward towards the mall's exit.

"B-But! My doll!"

"You can try again next time. If I remember correctly, you have the next 3 years to try and get one. Besides, you need to get home. I'm sure your brother is worried mad now."

When they came to the mall's exterior, Hamuko noticed two teenagers standing together, waiting for someone while having a talk. Instantly, they noticed them approaching, with the girl giving Hamuko a quick once-over while the guy was smirking at Aragaki-senpai.

"Hm…? Who's this, Shinjiro?" the girl with hair red like it was a cupcake Minato bought for her one day asked. "First Amada and now this girl?" she said, amused. "Are you picking up strays now? I thought a dog would have come first but this is far beyond from my expectations."

"What happened? Someone bullied this girl? Where are they?" the guy with short silver hair asked, cracking his knuckles.

Aragaki-senpai sighed. "This is Arisato Hamuko. She's going to be a freshman next year. She's the girl I met at the National Library a week before and apparently was going to transfer to Gekkou-kan for… Wait, I thought you were going to be in Rikkyo Ikebukuro? What happened?"

"Uh, parents arranged it beforehand?" Hamuko answered.

"Right, her parents apparently arranged that she and her twin will have their high school years here in Gekkou-kan. Now, she's in trouble because she spent the entire afternoon in the arcade-" The real redhead had her eyes tensed up at that. "- and at the moment, she needs a valid alibi. Any ideas? By the way, she's also late, probably past the time she promised to go home, and need to take the train straight to Ueno Station. Mitsuru?"

"While I am in no position to demand such things about your education to you, I would first want to know why are you even here in the first place, and what made it possible for you to come here." Mitsuru-senpai asked, indignantly.

Hamuko shuffled lightly. "I-I, uh, I was excused from school. I had to confirm my enrollment here personally. I just… lost track of time."

"Hm… Well, I have a couple of pamphlets of the school here in my bag. You would find them very useful in showing your brother and your guardians the greatness of our school." She took a couple of pamphlets from her bag and handed to Hamuko, which she immediately took. "But listen this, right now I have no right to demand to you, however the moment you've become a student of our school, I'll expect proper behavior and conduct from you. You hear me? Especially now that you have caught my attention."

"Mitsuru, you're scaring her. Tone down the chill, Miss Ice Queen."

"I am not an Ice Queen, Shinjiro. Despite it being my affinity, I do not like being referred as such."

The silver haired guy interrupted with a wave of his hand between them, saying, "Oi, you two. Let's get to the train station. We have a middle schooler here with us and it really doesn't make a very nice impression of Gekkou-kan's students to her." He turned his attention to her and smiled. "Sorry for those two, name's Sanada Akihiko. You've met my best friend, Aragaki Shinjiro. Our ' _Ice Queen'_ here is Kirijo Mitsuru. A pleasure to be your acquaintance, Arisato-kun."

"Likewise, Sanada-senpai," she replied, bowing her head.

"Akihiko's right. Let's get to the station. It **is** quite unbecoming of us to be seen fighting in front of what will be our future underclassman."

Hamuko was then accompanied by the friends of Aragaki-senpai, who were busy interrogating him about her origins, to the Port Island Station. Their interactions with each other reminded Hamuko of her own interactions with her brother and Ryoji, concern hidden beneath seemingly insulting jabs. With Kirijo-senpai between the two taller guys, Hamuko was then reminded of a memory of three seniors of her older self, smiling despite having bruises and small wounds covered with bandages, limping slightly to a pair of foreboding doors.

Although she was initially nervous being around with Aragaki-senpai's friends, she found herself comfortable in their presence as they walked to the station. It reminded her of a memory about her older self walking with a group with peculiar looking red armbands and curiously heavy fake guns at their sides under the light of a yellow green moon. She was genuinely sad when the three seniors had apologized and said their goodbyes to her when the train stopped at Iwatodai Station, which was apparently their stop due to how they had a dormitory near area. A fact that Sanada-senpai made known by groaning out loud. She doesn't know if there's a reason for his cry, though, since both of the two seniors with her rolled their eyes at the act.

"T-Thank you very much. For sending me off, that is," she hastily said before the train's doors closed. The three upperclassmen nodded and waved in response to her as the door shut and the train began to move.

Hamuko sat down on the seat, gripping tightly on the pamphlets she had on her hand. She then opened her bag to store the pamphlets inside when she saw a small piece of paper tapped under its flap. Curious, she tore it and smiled when she read its content.

 _'He wasn't like this back then. Then again, things must have changed.'_


	15. XV

"So… who was that, Shinji?"

"I agree with Akihiko, Shinjiro. Who _actually_ was that?"

Shinjiro sighed. "I told you guys, that was the girl I had promised to help at the National Library. I helped her back there. For some reason, her parents had set up her education 10 years before and now she was at Gekkou-kan to confirm it." He had dreaded the moment they would grill him about the girl. It was inevitable ever since he saw her that morning,

Mitsuru nodded, wrapping her arms around her waist. "So that's why you were at the Library at lunch. Toriumi-sensei also notified me earlier that you passed by the Administrative Building before coming to class." She placed her head on her palm, resting it. "What was her name again? _Risotto_?"

"…Arisato. Arisato Hamuko." Only Mitsuru would make a mistake on the girl's name. It wasn't the girl's fault though; Mitsuru was requesting him to make another batch that specific Italian rice dish for almost two days now. And from the way she smiled when Shinjiro corrected her, it seemed that she has no plans on stopping. "And I'm going to repeat myself, we are out of stock of that kind of rice. I have to buy them at Tokyo this Saturday," Shinjiro spat, grabbing a glass full of water to drink.

"For a girl that you recently came to know about a week ago, you were certainly friendly to her. I certainly hope that you don't have any ulterior motives on her, Shinjiro."

That made Shinjiro spat out his water on the floor. "W-What the hell, Mitsuru!? What the **fuck**?!" He tried to cough out the excess water that went the other tube. "We've been friends for almost… 4 years, Mitsuru! 4 years! You know what kind of a person I am!" he exclaimed after coughing for a few minutes. The Kirijo heiress just smugly smiled throughout his brief choking session.

"Exactly. And that's why I am warning you **not** to let those thoughts get to your mind. It would be disastrous to know that you had- "

"I'm not listening to your speculations, Mitsuru! I'm going to my room! I'm going to sleep it off and think this conversation _never_ ** _happened_**. **_Ever!_** "

He stood up from the dining table and marched off towards the second floor, leaving a smirking Mitsuru and a snoozing Aki at the dining table. Shinjiro knew Mitsuru was playing with him but honestly, he couldn't stand what she was implying or even suggesting. He wasn't a deviant, no matter how his physique, mannerisms and choice of clothes make him look like one; he was fully aware of that fact, mainly because of how people left him alone whenever they saw him.

Shinjiro was about to open his room when he noticed the room across his had its door ajar. It was Amada's room. He went closer and noticed the kid was lying on his bed and curled over with the lights out except for the small flashlight Amada was holding. Inching closer, he took a peek and saw the kid sobbing quietly.

It made Shinjiro wince. The kid had it hard; no house to go home now, lost all his belongings to the fire and his mother's body was immediately cremated due to how badly burned her body was. A week passed by already and Shinjiro had quite expected the kid to break down **days** ago. He need to release his emotions and by the looks of it, he was doing it right now.

Shinjiro then remembered that it was already past dinner time and the kid might have skipped dinner. Thanks to Mitsuru's actions of having Amada as a ward of the Kirijo Group, he now had a stipend to supply his daily needs. But regardless of that fact, Shinjiro had made his personal mission to make sure the kid gets his food ever since the day he came to the dormitory. Resolved to whip up something the kid would appreciate, he went back downstairs. Back to where his two best friends were lounging at the sofa, with Mitsuru reading another of her magazines on the large blue armchair and Aki sleeping on the sofa.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to drag his ass up later," he muttered, shrugging at the amused look Mitsuru at his best friend's situation. He then called out to her, saying, "I'm going to cook for the kid. He was being emotional and I think he skipped his dinner!"

Mitsuru nodded and returned to her magazine. Shinjiro knew that she fully understood what was going on with Amada; she had gone through one, personally, at a much younger age. He discovered it after he had brought Amada at the dorm a week before. Shinjiro was terrified what would her reaction but the moment she realized what happened, Mitsuru kneeled down to the kid and gave him a hug. After the kid had passed out on the sofa, she called up whoever she could at that time. Shee did all she could to help the kid and give him space, no matter how it looked like she was pulling strings behind their backs.

However, a part of Shinjiro's mind always screams Mitsuru was doing it solely because she felt guilty; guilty that it was, _ultimately_ , all her family's fault, which then translates to **her** fault. He quickly banished the thought. His friend might have done it out of her guilt but the majority of those feelings are genuine and not just a result of some guilt-trip fest.

Shinjiro later came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of whatever that was inside the dorm's refrigerator and a pitcher of juice to the second floor, noticing on the way Mitsuru had already retreated to her room to rest while Aki was still fast asleep on the couch. Sighing, he slowly climbed up and made his way to Amada's room. He placed the tray on the floor momentarily before knocking.

"Hey. Kid. You better eat something tonight, it's bad for you if you don't," Shinjiro called out through the now closed door. "I covered your dinner here with a plate and prepared a pitcher of juice. Take it later, okay?"

Amada didn't reply nor did Shinjiro waited for one for he instantly returned to his room after saying his part. From the past week the kid had been staying in their dorm, Amada was surprisingly mature than children of his age, despite having his neighbors at his old place saying otherwise. He always woke up earlier than Aki, though not as early as Shinjiro. Amada can take a bath all by himself without them prompting him to, he even managed to find where the toiletries where. And whenever he came to them eating dinner at the dormitory, he would accept whatever food they gave to him.

Even during the Dark Hour, he stayed at the Command Room with either him or Mitsuru whenever he woke up during those times. Shinjiro grimaced at the thought that the fire and him witnessing his mother's death had been the catalyst of said change.

 _'Just like Mitsuru, we played a part is his suffering.'_

"I know that," he spat, sitting down on his bed. "I know it's my reason he's like that. I know that it was my fault and not Mitsuru's, and that everything would have gone differently if… if…"

 _'…If what?'_

"…If I didn't lost control."

 _'...Stop lying to yourself.'_

Shinjiro let himself fall on his bed. It was difficult to come to terms with what he and Castor did; difficult to take that, just like what Mitsuru thinks, ultimately it was his fault Castor went on a rampage, and hard to swallow the thought he wasn't being punished for the death of an innocent woman.

A knock at his door broke Shinjiro's reverie, making him stand up and open it, revealing Amada the one who knocked. He was looking down and clutching the hems of his uniform's shirt. Shinjiro looked behind and noticed the tray of his food hasn't been touched. Yet.

"A-Aragaki-senpai? Can I talk with you for a sec?" Amada asked quietly. "…Please?"

"Ah. Get in," Shinjiro replied, opening the door wider to let the kid in. Amada honed to the only seat in his room, one that was in front of his desk. Shinjiro then sat down on his bed, silence returning to the room. "So… What do you want to-"

"T-Thank you so much, Aragaki-senpai!"

That caught Shinjiro by surprise, making him stop on his words. "W-What the? What happened to you that-"

"P-Please, listen to me. For a moment. Please."

Shinjiro went silent. The kid was trembling and it made him feel guiltier about his actions for the past week. Just what was the kid getting at?

"I, uh, thank you very much for helping me, Aragaki-senpai. I know that, uh, Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai are to be thanked too, but it all came down to you, Senpai." Amada was still not looking at him but the tremors his body was making were slowly disappearing. "Thank you for helping me back at the station. I-I know it isn't your responsibility to take care of me; you and the other two Senpais were only there because you three are going out to protect the people, but you still did and I really need to thank you for it."

"W-woah, slow down there, kid, okay? You're making- "

"I don't know what would happen to me if you didn't come to check me at the station. Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai told me last night that you were knocked out cold just hours before you came there, but the first thing you did after getting up was to check whether or not I was okay. You could have stayed because Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai had patched me up before the rescue team arrived but you still did it. You still went to the station where I was sent to after the rescuers saw I was already patched up."

The kid looked up to him. Shinjiro swore he saw fire in his eyes. "I think I would have been thrown into an orphanage or a dormitory, all alone. All alone to deal with my m-mom's- " He immediately knelt to keep the kid steady on the seat because Amada began to tear up again. "I-I would have been all alone to deal with my m-mom's funeral. I d-don't have a home now and I-I d-don't have anything left with m-e," Amada rasped out, tears now appearing at the edge of his eyes.

"My c-classmates at school asked me yesterday where have I been staying b-because they heard our place got burned down and t-they all knew that I d-don't have any relatives. T-They all thought I-I was staying at an orphanage or e-even at the police s-station!"

Shinjiro had nothing to say about it. He kept quiet as the kid kept on talking, tears now flowing down his face.

"E-Everyone says they understood why I was absent all week long. They w-were correct when they said I was b-busy but I… I never realized that it was… hard. I-It's strange, Senpai. I don't understand why everyone is saying that I'll g-get over it. That it will… I don't- "

Amada wiped his tears. "S-Sanada-senpai told me you two were from the same orphanage and both of you h-had a little sister t-that… was caught in the fire. H-how did you two dealt w-with it?"

Shinjiro contemplated for a moment on how to answer the kid's question. Should he answer the kid that he was still getting over what happened to Miki? That he and Aki have dedicated certain things in the memory of their deceased sister in all but blood? That he directed his anguish by making sure his small family of two, now three, gets taken care of, just like how Miki had helped and taught him to take care of his and Aki's wellbeing? That Aki had dedicated to be strong because he wasn't strong enough to stop Miki from letting go?

 _'…There's no concrete answer.'_

"Aki and I… have different ways in coping, Amada. I concentrate on taking care of him and Mitsuru, just like how me and Miki did before in the orphanage. Aki's making sure he's strong enough to protect, to prevent people end up like her sister. I don't know if… Mitsuru told you about it, but she's being strong for her father and herself because that was her mother's last words to her," Shinjiro confided, sitting back on his bed and handing a spare towel for the kid to use from his bedside drawer. As the kid wiped the tears from his eyes, Shinjiro continued, taking off his beanie on his head, "I… can't really say for you but… I guess you should live? What do you last remember about your mom?"

"…Her smile. She was smiling because of the gift I gave to her when she came back from work. I waited for her at our living room with a cake I bought that night." Amada brought out a singed looking bunch of keys. "She handed me this when she came through the door. It's the keys to our house and several of the rooms inside. It was the last thing she gave me."

"…Aki still collects rabbit dolls. It reminds him of Miki," Shinjiro muttered, holding his beanie on his hands. "I keep wearing beanies and these kinds of sweaters because she bought them with Aki at the orphanage. First time I got such a gift to be honest." He can clearly remember the surprise party the two prepared in their room when he came back from the kitchens that day. "I forgot that it was my birthday and they had prepared gifts for me. Aki's gift was a t-shirt, though."

"…D-Did you guys knew what caused the fire, Senpai?" Amada asked. That confused Shinjiro because the question came out of nowhere, it was so different from the things the kids was saying earlier, but he still gave Amada an answer.

"No, we never found the actual cause. They say it was because of some gasoline tank malfunction or electrical wiring mishaps. Some say it was because the landlord of the land the orphanage was on wanted to make us leave so he had the place burned down." Shinjiro sighed. "We really never knew the reason and I guess we two left it there. No sense to searching for a reason."

"B-but I won't!"

He stared at the kid. Amada now had a passionate expression on his face, eyes focused and arms clenched in fists on the seat he was on. "I-I won't let my mom's killer go away. You guys are out there fighting the monsters, right? Mitsuru-senpai told me last time that you got knocked out because you were exhausted fighting the monster that… killed mom." Shinjiro hid a wince. Mitsuru got some explaining to do later. "I-I can't help now but soon; I want to help you guys fight these monsters!"

"Are you listening to yourself, kid? It's dangerous. You might get hurt," Shinjiro pointed out.

"I know. That's why I said soon, not now, Senpai. I… I will concentrate on getting back to those monsters, Senpai. Just like how you and Sanada-senpai concentrated on different things to… 'cope' with losing someone, I… I'm going to find justice for my mom's killer. By helping you guys."

 _'He's not wrong.'_

No, he's absolutely wrong. The Shadows got nothing to do with the death of his mother but-

"Thank you Senpai! Thank you so much for listening to me and talking to me. I've decided that I'm… I'm going to help you guys fight these monsters. I won't allow them to hurt more people! I've lost mom already. I don't want to see anyone else to lose their loved ones, Senpai!" Amada declared, hoping off the seat. "Thank you for cooking me dinner, Senpai. I'm going back to my room and eat. Good night!"

The moment Amada closed the door and Shinjiro heard the kid locked his own room, he punched the wall beside him. "Why. Why. Why. Why. Why?!" he chanted, continuously hitting the wall, bruising and breaking the skin of his knuckles.

"Why are you thanking me?! Why are you…?!"

He stopped. He was being hypocrite, Shinjiro realized. He scoffed at Mitsuru's indecisiveness and guilt when he himself was berating himself for the same reason as hers. What a joke.

"…If Mitsuru is doing it because of some guilt, then why couldn't I do so myself?" Shinjiro croaked, pain from his already bleeding knuckles seeping through his voice. "She has made fighting the Shadows as her personal mission in life, an atonement for her family's grievances to the entire city. Then why couldn't I do the same thing?!"

Aki was simple. He wants to be strong to protect. He wasn't like Mitsuru, who he discovered was saddled with the burden of being responsible for letting the Shadows run rampant in Koto-ku. He wasn't like him, who had killed a person through his own Persona and got away with it. He wasn't-

No. Aki had his own burden. He was being blind, again. Miki let go from his back, which led to her being burned to death. If he was stronger, strong enough to carry her out, she would have been alive. And that realization had haunted his best friend ever since. Aki was already atoning for his own 'sin'.

If both of them were able to atone for their slights, then why could he?

 _'You've got your question already answered.'_

Yes. Yes, he already got that answered and solved. In fact, he was doing it for quite some time already. He had been making sure his best friend was okay, and when Mitsuru came, he made sure she was okay as well. Amada just got added to the list lately.

And he was going to make sure he will be fine too.

If making sure the woman's son is taken care of as a way of atoning his sin of killing her, then let it be. Shinjiro will make sure he will be.


	16. XVI

"Just what the **fuck** you think you are doing?" Shinjiro demanded, pointing his baton at the shirtless man he had found roaming the alleys of Port Island. "I know that we have the right to choose what clothes we wear but seriously, you being shirtless violates a lot of laws concerning decency and proper hygiene. And there's also the fact that it's snowing…?! H-Hey! Come back here!"

The man gave him no reply, just shrugged at him before trudging off deeper in the alleys of Port Island. Seriously, snow was already an inch tall; even Mitsuru herself decided to wear platform _shoes_ instead of her usual rapier-sharp heeled boots so that she could properly get through the snow. If the Kirijo heiress had to change her choice of footwear, which was almost impossible to occur but it does happen on occasions, then the snow was really something to invoke such reaction from her.

Since snow equates to having a _very cold season_ , then by all means it was a **very cold season** due to how heavy the snow fell for the past few hours. If Shinjiro had the ability to change some things, it would be banning the Shadows from being active during the winter season. It was nigh impossible to get around the city during the Dark Hour when they have green-with-a-pinch-of-red colored snow getting in their way.

Obviously, it affected everyone; it even reached to the point trucks came by now and then to scoop up the towering piles of snow in order to allow people to use the roads. The weather affected everyone but it made things harder for some people, specifically SEES, because he, Aki and Mitsuru had to trudge at the snow in order to chase the Shadows down. To make things worse, the Shadows weren't hindered by _simple snow_. They just _glide_ through the snow.

No, they don't affect them negatively. If Shinjiro was being honest to himself, he would have thought that the world indulged the Shadows by giving them an advantage against them.

The only consolation they got was that Mitsuru's Bufu spells are much easier and faster to cast since the temperature of their surroundings aid her in casting. Not to mention she was able to cast more spells than usual. Shinjiro thought that Mitsuru may have upgraded her Bufus to Mabufus in the process but that was just his own opinion.

In all honesty, he even thought Mitsuru got some sort of spiritual power discount with the large number of Bufu spells she was flinging around. He and Aki, on the other hand, got the short end of the deal; Aki having to be on guard at all times due to his Persona's innate weakness to Bufu spells while Shinjiro's regenerative ability had to work overtime to compensate the damage he received, which came from, incidentally, mostly from Bufu spells. The ones that got the boost big time, aside from their resident Ice Queen, were the Shadows, making Shinjiro grimace at the reminder.

Since Mitsuru had a power discount in casting Bufu spells, all of them agreed that the Shadows had received the same treatment as well. And they certainly wasted no time on abusing such discount, with Shinjiro and Mitsuru watching Aki's back in case a stray Bufu spell makes it way to the boxer. Aki was their secondary healer of the team, with Mitsuru the primary one, but with their recent discovery of the unique seasonal discount, the three of them agreed to have Mitsuru on the offensive while Aki as their support; the boxer grumbled for a while but he couldn't go against Mitsuru's and Shinjiro's disappointed stares when they heard and glared at him.

That said, Mitsuru had already recorded, saved, and literally memorized the weaknesses, strengths, immunities and abilities of the Shadows that roam in the city; having her as their support was stupid, a fact Shinjiro agreed with wholeheartedly. The sheer amount of Shadow information they had collected for almost 4 years was proof of how much effort Mitsuru had spent in researching and combating the Shadows and now that they had noticed there weren't any new Shadows appearing every other week, Mitsuru had left her machines at the dormitory until further notice. All of their hard work in testing and experimenting which Shadow has a resistance and weakness to certain attacks paid off; all of them more or less have an idea at which Shadow was resistant and weak to their attacks.

As he came out of the alley, Shinjiro initially wanted to chase the shirtless man, demand him to wear something, but he decided not to, wasting 10 minutes of his time. Mitsuru had caught, surprisingly, a thief climbing up an apartment complex during the Dark Hour and currently they were on the way back to the police station to report the thief. He just had made a detour when he noticed someone at an alleyway and Shinjiro regret wasting precious time chasing the said shirtless man down. Sending a pulse of magic to the baton he was carrying, the baton shrank into a smaller size, one that would fit in his pockets. He then made his way back to the main street, where his friends were waiting with the thief handcuffed and leaning on a light post.

"Did you caught him, Shinjiro?" Mitsuru asked, idly tightening the gun holster she had on her waist. He shook his head. "No? That's unfortunate but you did what you could. To have someone wearing such thin clothes in the middle of December… How much more when he has nothing on… It's unthinkable."

"Come on, Mitsuru. Let's forget it. Obviously the person was being… what you call it again? Exhibition-ing?" Aki interrupted, stretching and flexing his arms. "I've seen people do that kind of shit lately. Maybe he's one of them."

"…I wonder if your time at Shibuya rotted your mind already. You've only been there for a few hours today, but I think the atmosphere there have already reached your head," Shinjiro spat, pushing the thief to walk. He had been told by Arisato that there were a bunch of weird shit happening lately inside the Yamanote Loop and frankly, he was pleased that the school Arisato would be coming from was a bit stricter than other private schools, like Gekkou-kan; it was a religious school, (A Christian school?) Nevertheless, Shinjiro was thankful that due to how the school implemented several rules and regulation to its students, Arisato was in no ways related to the hooligans she had been telling him lately; her school had a reputation to uphold and the faculty apparently has the power to punish their students if they managed to tarnish it by any chance.

With Aki protesting and Mitsuru laughing lightly, the three of them and their baggage arrived at the police station at the Paulownia Mall; Officer Kurosawa waiting already for them outside. Shinjiro couldn't help but grin when a small smirk crossed the officer's face. Officer Kurosawa might have the ability and the right to convict such lawbreakers but he and the rest of the officers in their station couldn't be everywhere at all times. Which is why Shinjiro knew that Kurosawa was absolutely thankful for the help SEES was giving to them.

Sure, he was initially skeptical at what SEES could offer to them aside from making sure Apathy Syndrome won't be returning to its status anytime soon but when Mitsuru brought up Shinjiro's idea of SEES checking the situation of the areas they will be at when the Dark Hour happens, he allowed SEES to have permits to carry guns with non-lethal ammunition. They won't hurt permanently, but it would bruise and hurt like a bitch if one got shot at.

Mitsuru really didn't think ahead what would be the possible repercussions of having their Evokers designed like guns. Sure, the design made summoning their Personas easier and it really emulates the needed mental conditions to successfully materialize them in the real world, but with them carrying the guns around in the city after the Dark Hour occurred would immediately call unneeded public attention to their operations. And frankly, the public wouldn't make second thoughts to sham the Kirijo Group through their heiress if they caught wind of Mitsuru carrying _guns_ with no valid reason at all.

With them having permits now as a ruse to _justify_ them carrying their Evokers, even though they have to switch their Evokers and the air guns after the Dark Hour ends, they really have no excuse not to aid the police. Especially when their own midnight operations were basically helping out the public: preventing Apathy Syndrome from returning to its previous alarming levels. Alarming in the sense that the victims almost affected society due to how many people were being hospitalized, confined, and died with them being lifeless husks. Not to mention that because they're out of commission, the life of those that weren't struck by Apathy Syndrome were affected as well; since the inflicted workers were figuratively dead, there were no one to do their jobs which led to many businesses filing bankruptcy for the past years.

Thankfully, as time passed by, the Syndrome went down but it still remained; only it was at very low levels. Something Mitsuru admitted the Kirijo Group wanted to stay or if possible, erase it totally from existence. Still, for something that was regarded as a strange worldwide pandemic, Shinjiro wondered just why does Mitsuru felt so bad about it.

Ever since he discovered that magic exists for real in the form of monsters existing in a strange time paradox and him summoning a facet of his own self to combat said monsters, Shinjiro realized that the rest of the world had been dealing the Dark Hour in their own ways. It was all thanks to Mitsuru unwittingly giving him the idea of researching and outsourcing ways to effectively fight in the Dark Hour by handing Shinjiro a bag of Traesto Gems.

Shinjiro was skeptical if Mitsuru was being honest to him or she had absolutely no idea what the Gems' true value for when she said to him that the Gems were a product of the Kirijo Group's research. A research into controlling the power exhibited by the Shadows after they had successfully captured one, all thanks to her Persona, when she was about 8 years old. The chances that Mitsuru had absolutely no idea was so likely, with her being an heiress to a worldwide multibillion corporation; she admitted that she was saddled with lots of responsibilities ever since she was young because it was expected of her to take control of their corporation when she graduated from school. Not having much free time for herself aside from the small club her father allowed her to manage, most of her time was spent on studying various materials for the time she inherited the company from her father.

Having to deal with the Dark Hour was already taxing on her, she confessed to him, earning Shinjiro's trust 2 years ago. It was something he treasured, knowing that he could help her with her self-appointed burden. He still wanted to smack her head at times for her habitual lamentations when they witness a victim of Apathy Syndrome on the streets.

Nevertheless, Shinjiro discovered later that the Gems were actually a product of an ancient branch of magic that was being practiced around the world, but at that time he had doubts on her knowledge, despite her absolute trust on her father's employee's words. Her father's employees must be toying with them or they were in the dark as Mitsuru, pulling shit out of their asses.

Shinjiro wasn't like Mitsuru, though. He prefer to have his sources confirmed with his own two eyes and hands. Normally, he wouldn't bother in doing some **_deep_** research on the Gems, his desire to implicitly trust his friend's trust sometimes powering his own wants, but the effect of the Gems caught his attention **bad**.

He was _enthralled_ by the strange Gems' ability to allow them to return to their 'safe zones': places they all regarded as safe like their dormitory. So _enthralled_ he was that he went to research about magical gems. It was either his luck or coincidence that he had been recommended by their school's librarian, who was a gem and jewel enthusiast, to take a chance at the National Library, all because she had misunderstood he was searching for a certain jewel to fit his tastes. Incidentally, the librarian's remark about him searching a certain jewel sparked rumors of him having a girlfriend and planning to propose to the said girlfriend for marriage. Aki and Mitsuru never got the idea he was searching records of Traesto Gems but instead concentrated on teasing him, something he found being thankful and concerning.

When he stepped inside the National Library, he was immediately pulled aside by a strict looking librarian and told if he was there for the Magical Section or not because he apparently went through the wrong entrance for the _magically abled_ people. There he surprisingly learned of the other side of their society, albeit he kept a straight face all throughout the small lecture he received, and found that Koto-ku was called the **"Magic Dead Ward of Tokyo"** due to how all magicals in their place mysteriously disappeared and never heard of again.

There was also the strange 'seal' that prevents magical beings from entering or leaving the area, solidifying its degrading moniker furthermore. Non-human magical beings can't enter the place, despite all efforts, while human magicals can, albeit having a severe drain on their reserves and temporarily making them a _'muggle'_ , a derogatory term he learned that was famous in the English-speaking Magical Side of their world. It was so famous that sometimes it was accepted if the situation requires it, often used in very _fucked-up_ situations like having their magic drained to the point of being non-existent.

Of course there were exceptions like him, but he didn't tell the lady, which was a blessing in disguise because he had read later that there was a _legit branch_ of their _magical society's government_ that was doing _research_ on people having the _ability to retain_ their magic in the **"Magic Dead Ward"**.

Shinjiro mused that was the reason why Mitsuru couldn't find any more 'volunteers' for her quest and why only those without Personas were with her in the Kirijo Group. Or she was just that unlucky until they stumbled upon him and Aki.

Still, Shinjiro didn't ask for more explanations and decided to do research all by himself; it was better to find things for himself and he figured out he better get familiar with the topics that opened up for him, like actual _documented_ magic. For some reason, the librarian assumed he was a _'modernist'_ magical, which he learned meant preferring to use magic sparingly or in convenience only and decided to concentrate on the modern world; him wearing a private school famous in the non-magical world gave him the impression of a 'millennial', as one old geezer spat behind him on the train. The flip side of it was a _'traditionalist'_ magician was what people nowadays would refer to as 'ancient'.

He instantly regret the decision to research what being a _'traditionalist'_ magician entails and focused on finding the crux of the magical gems Mitsuru had given to him.

"Shinji? You okay there?"

Shinjiro shook his head and focused his attention to where the voice came from. Aki was in front of him, waving his hand, and had a confused expression on his face. He looked arounded and saw Mitsuru sitting on the benches in Port Island Station, reading a small pocket book, with her legs crossed and an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Sorry, just… spaced out. Maybe I'm too tired," he replied, yawning afterwards. "Anything I missed?"

"Not so much. Mitsuru was thanked by Officer Kurosawa and we then went straight to the station. You, on the other hand, followed us, face completely blank. Am I like that sometimes?"

Dammit. If the blockhead noticed it, then he was spacing out that _bad_.

Shinjiro immediately waved his hand, denying his best friend's unvoiced question. "Not always. Mitsuru sometimes do this if she gets too stressed, and yes, you did that one time. I think we are just too tired when that happens." He stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Thanks, by the way."

Aki smiled and went ahead to the train platform, saying, "Don't mention it. I think the train's here." In just a few seconds, the train from Iwatodai Station arrived in a gust of wind, blowing a few newspapers lying around; Mitsuru nonchalantly blocking a flyer coming towards her with her hand while her focus was on the pocket book she was reading.

Mitsuru then yawned, hiding her mouth with the back of her hand and her eyes closing shut for a second before opening to reveal small droplets of tears at its edge. She must be exhausted as well for that day, making Shinjiro be concerned about her. He resolved to make her a special cup of coffee before they go to school that morning, planning to stop her from ordering whatever sludge that cheap knock-off café near their dormitory serves to their buyers.

Café Chagall would be a better choice but the mall wasn't on the route to the school, making the sleep deprived students to suffer at the sludge some 'cafés' call as coffee. He tried once and he quickly threw it at the drain after he was out of the owner's sight; it was disgusting and while it was tempting to do it in front of the guy, he rather not be involved in a confrontation at that time.

With the arrival of their ride, they rode the train back to Iwatodai Station and walked the rest of the way to their Dorm; silence filling the air the entire time they walked. All three of them were too tired to make any small talk. Not even Aki, who seemed to be chipper before the train arrived, made any noise and instead focused on his feet, concentrating on not keeling over. Shinjiro smiled weakly as he opened the front door with the keys attached to his keychain and let his best friends inside, Mitsuru nodding slowly and Aki shrugging lightly before they signed in the logbook on the counter.

As soon as they finished, the two rushed up the stairs, ignoring how dark the stairwell from the lack of lighting given by the sole light from the dining area. The black haired teen shut the door, locking it good, before he too signed in their logbook; it was expected of them being residents of the dormitory. Regardless of the implications that were being circulated at their school about their dorm, with the Kirijo Group heiress, their school's top boxer and the resident smart-but-too-lazy-to-care best friend of the two living in there, it was still a dormitory under the Gekkou-kan Housing Committee; all rules and regulations of dorms under their jurisdiction applies to theirs too, albeit having a few exceptions due to the specific purpose of having their dorm exclusively housing members of SEES.

Ikutsuki sure had plans to recruit more members to their 'cause', despite having only 3 members for the past 4 years. Well, if they ignore Amada, who was officially their reserve member. He was still a kid, even though he's active, making him, Aki and Mitsuru feel so uncomfortable with his presence. But they still went on in helping the kid get used to his new situation, allowing him freedom over his own actions. They also didn't refuse his requests of teaching him how to help them in their 'cause', even if he wasn't allowed to actively join in the fights.

That's where Shinjiro's researches at the National Library and his frequent trips outside Koto-ku went useful. "So, did you hear about this rumor lately? Somewhere in Shibuya!... I mean… Maybe in Udagawa?"

Shinjiro shook his head and quickly typed back his reply.

"While it is funny to see you fumble in texting, no, I haven't heard any rumors. I don't do gossip, if that's what you're asking."

The reply was instantaneous, only in a span of 30 seconds.

"I'm not asking if you're a gossip or not! Anyway, I think it was in Udagawa. There was a shooting that happened there lately and the victim was like, a middle schooler! Or maybe a high schooler! Like me!"

He raised an eyebrow at that, placing down his cup of coffee. How was she able to type all of those words in that small frame of time? Her phone's keypad must be one of a kind to receive that kind of beating. He checked the time and noticed it was almost time for them to go to school. Mitsuru and Aki were coming down in a few minutes and their own cups of morning drinks were ready at the table.

"Was it someone you knew?"

"Nah, I don't have anyone at Shibuya nor at Udagawa. Me and my family are in Ueno, so it's quite far. What made this rumor so strange was that, the body disappeared!"

"How? Didn't you say that the victim was about your age? It would make him a middle schooler or a 1st year high school student like you."

"I think? Maybe… Well anyway, that's the thing that made it strange! Reports say it was a young student like me, but when they turned around, they can't find it anymore! There were pictures of the guy but all of them were blurred! They can't get what was the name of the guy, since blurred pictures _are great_ in telling the face of a person and they couldn't remember what he looked like!"

Okay, he'll play along. This seemed to be interesting. "Then why wasn't it reported in the news?"

"I think it's because they couldn't? Like what could they even report? _'Guy with no name and no describable features found dead with his body missing afterwards!' _ "

"Well… Now that you said it, it **is** strange for it to be reported. It would only be ridiculed at, all because it sounds so unreal."

"So, who's the one you're texting so early in the morning?"

"It's almost 8 am and it's not 6; so obviously, it _is not_ early in the morning," Shinjiro replied calmly, not even looking up from his phone. "And it's that Arisato girl I introduced you to last time. She left me her number and I decided to keep in contact; helps that she's going to be a first year at Gekkou-kan Gakuen this upcoming opening."

"Ah," the female voice voiced out, before Shinjiro heard something being lifted from the table followed by a sip. "This tastes great, Shinjiro. Thank you so much for the drink." Not even breaking his concentration on his phone, he nodded at redhead's words of appreciation.

"Where's Aki?" he asked, texting 'Later, listen to class now.' on his phone before he placed it inside his uniform pants' pockets. "Don't tell me he's still asleep."

"Nope, he's getting ready. Heard him stumble all the way from my room on the third floor. Where's Amada?"

"He just went out, about 10 minutes ago. Don't worry, I gave him his lunchbox and some snacks. Kid usually buys his lunch from the canteen. It's not particularly good for him." Shinjiro paused, taking the still hot cup of coffee he had brewed earlier that morning. "I think the kid's lactose intolerant. He dropped a comment on how his stomach ached when he drank milk earlier."

Mitsuru sat on the seat and pulled it closer to the table. Placing her bag on it, she replied, "So soy milk should be given to him? I'll see it later that a batch will be sent here for him. Unless you want to buy some for him personally?" Shinjiro shook his head. He'll judge the academy's pediatricians' judgement on what's the best brand of soy milk for the kid. The Kirijo Group hires only the best and such, Mitsuru has access to the said best at all times. "So, what are your plans for today? Going to Tokyo again?"

Shinjiro nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to do some more research and maybe find something that would help us with the Shadows. Oh and by the way, before I leave later, can we talk?"

"We are talking right now, Shinjiro. But I guess it's something important?" He rolled his eyes, both from the message he got from his phone, 'Senpai, you know that our homeroom _isn't_ that strict as yours.', and the remark Mitsuru dropped at him. He placed his phone in his pocket and looked straight at his best friend's eyes.

"Yes. Later at the Command Room?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes and hummed before answering. "I'll make time for it. I don't think there's much to discuss today at the Student Council, so rest assured I'll be there. Does it concern about Akihiko, Shinjiro?"

Shinjiro quickly shook his hands. "No, it doesn't. It's more about the stuff _outside_ Koto, Mitsuru. About how the other wards and places in Japan and, probably, the rest of the world deals with the Dark Hour."

At that, Mitsuru looked down and her face shifted to a guilty expression. "...I see. I'll be there. I assume this is what you've been _researching_ all these weeks."

He nodded. Mitsuru let out a sigh of relief and stood up, the seat she sat on clattering from the sudden action. She downed the rest of her cappuccino and placed it on the table with a resounding thud, muffling the thud that came from the stairwell. Both of them wouldn't have noticed it but the groan coming from the said location alerted them to the ruckus.

When they arrived there, their bags on their hands and their own uniforms arranged neatly, they witnessed Akihiko wincing and massaging his forehead, his bag's contents scattered all over the wooden staircase and the bag resting near the 1st floor's bathroom doors.

"Did you trip, Aki?" Shinjiro asked with disbelief in his voice, looking over his self-adopted brother. He held out a hand to him and helped Aki get up from the stairs. Mitsuru was already picking up the notebooks and books on the ground, arranging them inside his bag with a wry smile on her face. "Come on, let me see."

Relief immediately crossed his face at the lack of cuts on Aki's forehead. He went back to the dining area and pulled open the door to the kitchens. Shinjiro wanted to make it a surprise to Aki that evening, since he likes to drink something sweet and filling after school was done, but with the swollen forehead of his… It wouldn't do to have Aki walk out of the dorm with that large bump.

* * *

With their classes already done and most of the school's population going to their respective clubs or to whatever business they have outside the school, Shinjiro stood outside the glass doors of the Administrative Building, waiting for Mitsuru to come out of the office. He wanted to have his talk with Mitsuru be done already but something came up in the middle of walk towards the school's gate, leaving Shinjiro to wait for her as she went to Ikutsuki's office.

Idly, he opened his phone and scanned the e-mails he had received for the entire day. Five were spam, not much of a surprise there. Three were from the suppliers he bought his food and other almost-necessary-shit from, notifying him about a restock. Two were from Margaret, the _cranky_ Librarian, reminding him of a near-due book and a 'request' to deliver some stuff for her. What was he to her? A pack mule? A courier? Not that he could complain since the receiver of her 'wares' would give him several trinkets and items that have a surprisingly interesting effect during the Dark Hour.

Who knew that blessed rice and even holy water from the churches would deal Instant Death to the Shadows? A bunch of beads that were commonly seen in shrines and rosaries has the ability to wake up someone knocked out cold during the Dark Hour when magic was channeled through them. It would surprise Shinjiro that voodoo dolls and other 'cursing' equipment he had read and seen in movies and novels would also be applicable in the Dark Hour. He can just imagine it already, Mitsuru's pale face contrasting the eager and excitable expression Aki had when the two of them saw him puncturing a straw doll and a Shadow explodes because of it.

Now that was a food for thought. According to Mitsuru's scans and some of the scanning equipment they had brought over to do a check-up at Amada, she discovered that the kid has an affinity to 'Light' and Zio, along with the ability to enforce a person's natural healing capabilities like her and Aki. It rattled her mind and the rest of them of the 'Light' skills she had perceived using her Persona's scanning abilities, but they soon rationalized it was the system their abilities fell under.

Zio for lightning, Bufu for ice, Agi for Fire, Dia for healing, and Garu for wind. The workings of the system their magic (Soul Magic, Shinjiro had discovered later on, has a different and unique system that couldn't be easily affected by normal magic as it was affecting the _center or core_ of whatever target it was aimed at.) used all came from Mitsuru's Persona's analysis, making her the only one they could rely on. (None of the spell names Mitsuru had discovered were even in the worldwide unified database of Soul Magic, though the fact Soul Magic wasn't the most famous branch in the world due to how _picky_ it was to their users was reason enough for Shinjiro to accept Penthesilea's analysis.) Mostly because Mitsuru and Aki had no idea about it, as well as the _researchers_ Mitsuru's family had hired to do research on their Personas, aside from him. (There there's the fact that most of those researchers were already dead and only their findings were left for Mitsuru to read from. Mitsuru confided to the two of them before since most of the Kirijo Group had abstained from continuing their projects regarding Shadows and Personas and only a group that resembled a scaffolding was left for her to rely on; leading her to personally be in-charge of what she claimed to be a _stain_ in her family's history.)

Nevertheless, all of the stuff he had researched about it and their own personal experiences with the magic they were able to wield in the Dark Hour can be summarized into one word: _intent. Intent_ makes everything different, for they just _will_ it to happen and it _happens_. No unnecessary chants and rituals were used when they want to have a skill utilized. His was even more prevalent, since his Persona doesn't have any elemental affinities and just plain 'physical skills'. Which was the, arguably, universal term for 'hit it 'til it die' skills Castor does with his reckless mow downs and Polydeuces does with his sonic punches.

How much pain can he deal to the Shadow? **Tremendous.** Pure, undiluted damage that wasn't hindered by any elemental resistances. The only downside was that he _has_ to hit them, strike them _accurately_ , unlike his best friends where their 'spells' immediately target and hones at their enemies (If not instantly **at** them.) which allows them a much wider range of actions after that. Cast another, evade an incoming attack or rush a nearby Shadow, Aki and Mitsuru can do that. He, on the other hand, has to approach and hit the Shadow up close; though, Castor can do that for him, he preferred to be where he can first hand see the chaos. Makes interrupting any Shadows in 'spellcasting' much easier and blocking any incoming Shadow attacks to his best friends easier.

With how all of them gotten used to the elemental spells they encountered and for Mitsuru to be intrigued as to what the new category she had discovered was about, it made the rest of the 3-person team be fascinated as well.

Shinjiro had a theory the 'Light' category (And there would also be a 'Dark' category, for obvious reasons.) would be like the 'Instant Death' effects being exhibited by the paper talismans he had grabbed from Naganaki Shrine and blessed rice. What else could it be? The light show being made whenever he channeled a bit of magic to the bottle of blessed water and then threw it at the Shadows like a grenade was an indicator already of how it worked.

As he finally reached the end of his inbox, there was a single e-mail from the girl hailing from Rikkyo Ikebukuro. He then remembered the comment she had dropped when they first met.

 _'Magical Artifacts'_

People outside SEES' jurisdiction, evidently, used items like paper charms to stave off the Shadows. And those paper charms were categorized as 'Light', if what she had told him was to be believed as the truth. If the 'Light' category has paper charms and blessed rice as its assigned _'Magical Artifacts'_ , then the other categories may have items that hold their powers as well. Shinjiro then remembered the bag of dry ice in the dorm's freezer and how it didn't turned red when the Dark Hour hit. The same could be said for the water bottles and cans of soda in their vending machines.

Maybe he was onto something. He never had paid attention to the water bottles and soda cans in their dormitory after the mishap he had with tap water one time during the Dark Hour.

"Shinjiro. Is something troubling you?"

He turned around as he was about to open the e-mail from the girl and saw Mitsuru looking at him, frowning. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a manner that spoke she was concerned or disappointed. The former may be the case, taking in consideration of her words earlier.

"I-I'm okay. I just thought of something," he replied, putting away his phone. Arisato can wait for his reply, they were even meeting up later so there's no problem with him not replying instantly. The e-mail arrived from earlier that day, so the possibility of it something urgent went down every hour passed after its arrival. "So what's with your father all of a sudden? Why did he called you up?"

Mitsuru shook her head and held her hand towards Shinjiro, palm open wide. "He was thinking of having me join him to an evening gala at Tokyo. The Kirijo Group's one of the attendees of the party and Father thought maybe I could join him in there, with him being the CEO and all." Shinjiro picked up her bag leaning along his leg on the ground and handed over to his friend. She took it with a slight frown and continued on. "I reminded him of what I'm doing here. He then quickly apologized and said he understood. Wished me good luck, too," she finished, sighing at the end as she brushed away a stray lock of her hair from her face.

Shinjiro had nothing to say about it. Although he was, along with Aki, friends with Mitsuru for quite some time already, she has a different upbringing with them. Him and Aki had grew up at the same orphanage, hence giving them the same experiences to understand one another better. She on the other hand, had a family to grew up with, albeit having only a father with her. Mitsuru's a daughter of a multibillion dollar company's CEO and the heir of the said corporation, while they grew with almost nothing on their hands and was thankful of every day that somebody had donated enough money for their orphanage to stand. And that was before the fire happened.

Even though he had accepted Mitsuru's presence with open arms when they actually first met, he actually kept her at some distance, thinking of how different she would be compared to them; and that was taking in the fact she was _active_ like them. Then he then spent time with her and managed to see and witness several moments where she's actually _trying_ to get her father's attention, by making sure to report to him _personally_ through the phone or in person and even calling him every end of the week around 6 in the evening. All three of them sure have different upbringings, but in the end, their circumstances revolved around the same idea.

Loneliness.

From what she had relayed to him and Aki and from what he had researched, Mitsuru spent most of her time contained inside a laboratory after awakening to her Persona, and that was _after_ the fact she was figuratively isolated from most of her age group due to being a CEO's daughter. Security was a terrible thing, in retrospect. When she had unwittingly paved the way for them to meet her, she had allowed him and Aki to adopt her in their small family. Loneliness has a way to force people to bond with other people, a counterreaction to the said situation.

That's why Shinjiro has nothing to say about it. There was **nothing** to say, at all. Mitsuru needed a companion, not a therapist. He knew Mitsuru's strong enough to overcome the strange feeling of _want_ that she always feel whenever there's a chance for her and her father to bond together, yet prevented by their own commitments. For the past years she had been with Shinjiro and Aki, the two of them had been witnesses to several emotional breakdowns Mitsuru had went into.

Mitsuru knew this as well. But all of them also knew that it was **much harder** when there's no one with you to deal with something that rocked you to the core. No words needed, just plain acknowledgement that he's there; he's there with her and he will stand by for her.

Shinjiro had once thought that maybe he should have left the group, days before Amada had thanked Shinjiro for approaching him at the station that night. He had once thought that maybe he should leave, his Persona went **mad** and it had **killed** someone. That act doesn't wash off like dirt under running water.

But Aki and Mitsuru were there for him, a constant presence at the hallways, the lounge and at the school. After the shouting match they had at the dorm before he left to fetch Amada, the three silently agreed to not have another shouting match and instead talk it out; feelings tend to overpower logic and it would only lead to more troublesome arguments. And along with that agreement was the unspoken order to be there for one another in times of trouble. Shinjiro had forgotten that he and Aki had done it once to Mitsuru; the same was being done to him by the two during those days.

After Amada thanked him, it had dawned to Shinjiro that his two best friends were waiting for him to understand that, while it was his Persona's working that caused the death of Amada's mother, he shouldn't beat himself for it. He should accept that he had committed a mistake and he should work on it. Akin to a pot roast simmering in its own juices, that was he was doing for the past days before the kid approached him. When he came out of his room that night and sat at the lounge, both his best friends were there, smirking at him as if they were expecting him already to come down and realise such things.

By the time the two of them reached their dormitory, not even a single word was muttered throughout the entire trip. Even though many people, mostly students from Gekkou-kan, stared and made whispers when they saw the Kirijo heiress walked in the train, she also didn't make any small talk with him. Only when Shinjiro tried to open the doors of the dormitory and found it already unlocked that he called out, "Amada? You there?"

"I'm here!"

With a nod, both he and Mitsuru walked in through the doors and made their way to where the reply came from, and arrived to Amada on the dining table, doing homework, though there's a suspiciously looking book underneath his textbook. Seeing the kid doing his 'schoolwork' brought both good and bad ideas to Shinjiro's mind; first was that the kid was actually being a kid again, not moping inside his room. The other was that he also had homework to finish and unlike Mitsuru, he wasn't yet _that_ fluent in the writing Japanese.

Decided to do first his homework, Shinjiro opened his phone and was surprised at Arisato's e-mail's contents.

"Huh. Well, that's a surprise."

* * *

"Soooooo…. Who's the mystery guy?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows and shaking his head in a suggestive manner at the girl he considered as the greatest girl he had ever met in his life. "'cause you've been texting that guy ever since yesterday and nope, don't deny it **isn't** a guy because you just proved it is a guy when you gave me that look."

The red-haired girl sighed at his question and shrugged instead of answering him. She stared at her phone for a minute, or what she **was** doing until a group of their classmates scampered right between them, making him go back to his seat from the push the squadron of ponytailed girls did to him. He gave her a look of worry, only for for it to be countered with a beaming smile before she shut her phone off and slid it inside her school bag.

"Seriously," he muttered, bringing up his hands in mock defeat as he settled down on his seat. There, he turned towards his right and poked several times the arm of the sleeping guy beside him - or at least he was trying to, since he has a feeling his best friend was just trying to pass some time. "And here I am, the ever curious best friend, only worried for her own welfare. And I get _that_ kind of reaction?! That's just so unfair. It's borderline _abuse_! Isn't that right, Minato-kun? Tell me that I'm just concerned for her. It **is** natural for me to be suspicious of that person she keeps on sending e-mails that-"

"Ryoji," came the voice of the one being poked, muffled by the arm the blue-haired teen was using as a pillow. "I'm her brother. Emphasis on _twin brother_. If I'm not bothered, then why should you be? Are you perhaps… Jealous?" At that, he stopped the poking and slumped back on his seat, frowning and almost pouting at the suggestion. "Besides, now isn't the _right_ time to do that. We have an entire afternoon to ask her, right?"

He brightened up when he heard it and tried to vehemently thank Minato, who still has his head tucked in, but then their teacher came into their classroom, almost slamming the sliding door as if it was an obstacle in her way. Their Math teacher seemed to be in a very bad mood, with how she was frowning when she came to the teacher's table and dropped the lesson plan and textbook she's holding. So he just accepted Minato's words and decided to keep still, though he still badgered his best friend to get up and show at least a bit of proper classroom etiquette to their teacher.

Minato was right; after all, the three of them were to go later on what he called their 'weekly city excursions'. It was something they had agreed to do back in elementary school in order to stave off the boredom they were plagued with, not to mention it was a very effective way to keep in track with what was happening around them. The last time they did, which was exactly a week ago, they went to the Suidobashi and almost got caught by a security guard sneaking inside the arena. Ryoji snickered at the memory, causing him to be called out by their teacher at his inattention and made him to go at the board and solve something related to their class.

Hamuko and her brother joined in with laughing with the rest of their class, though theirs weren't as spiteful as the rest of their classmates. Theirs were just laughs of good cheer, enjoying the mishap he had caught himself in. He just smiled at their laughs and grudgingly solved the problem in front of him. Too bad Math wasn't their last class that day but was their first for that day. He couldn't wait for the day to end so that the three of them of could go out again.

Classes passed through like a breeze, with him concentrating much on the trip that was to be made at the end of the day, that he almost didn't notice Hamuko nudging him and Minato dropping his hands on his desk. Ryoji looked down on his table, ignoring the pointed glares of his two best friends, and saw his notebook completely filled in. He looked around and saw the rest of their classroom empty, with only a few of their classmates mingling at their seats, tables or favorite spots. The board was midway wiped clean, notes of their previous class half erased.

"Huh. I guess I went into autopilot... again?" Lunch was already upon him and he didn't realize it.

"I sometimes envy you, Ryoji. Envy you, so bad. You can tune out whatever our teachers rambles but you still manage to take down notes!"

"No doubt it's all chicken scratch to us. He will have a lot of trouble reading those later."

"Aww,,, You're too mean. We could just say that Ryoji's just that good in writing in a language that's yet to be discovered, but that's fine, I guess."

He dropped his head on his table, creating a _thud_ that scattered his things down to the floor. "You guys are the _worst_ ," he grumbled, picking up his belongings and stuffing them into his bag beside his seat. "So, the canteen or…?"

"Nah, let's just stay here. Too cold to walk out the building," the red-haired girl answered, pulling her seat and placing in adjacent to his table. "Anyway, have you heard about this rumor?"

"Uhh… The Stripper Lady?" Minato, who did the same thing as her sister, frowned at his statement; Hamuko did it too, as well. But her frown slowly dropped into an open gape full of disgust, complete with the trademark skeptical rise of the eyebrow. "What? That's the rumor I heard yesterday! I was going to ask you two about it today."

"First of all, what. Second, how. How did you even- Nope. Not gonna ask that." Even Minato shook his head and proceeded to change the topic by placing a group of lunchboxes on their shared table. "Thanks Minato. Anyway, how's Mari-sensei, Ryoji? Is she okay now?"

Ryoji shook his head, frowning as he took his own lunchbox from the pile. "She's still out cold from the flu. Which is really weird since she's a nurse. I don't think she got it from our place." He gestured to himself, making both twins roll their eyes at his action and just went on opening their respective lunchboxes. "Maybe she caught it at the hospital. Just because it's a _hospital_ doesn't mean you can't get any sickness from there, right?"

"Mhmm. They say, the places you think is the _cleanest_ is sometimes the _dirtiest_."

"Huh. Where did you heard that from?" Minato asked, pointing at his twin with his chopstick. "I never heard that before." Same for Ryoji, he also never heard of that saying. And he already lived with a nurse, who was his guardian, so all the sayings and myths about _cleanliness and hygiene_ went through him that he already got _sick_ of hearing it. He won't admit it to her, though. He's not that petty.

Hamuko just winked at them. "Oh, here and there. Anyway, should we go visit Mari-sensei this afternoon then? We could buy some medicine for her and maybe some hot pastries! I heard it's good for those who are sick." She ended it with a munch from her lunch, muffling her moan of _ecstasy_ of the home cooked meal.

"Hm… Okay, I'm fine with that." He couldn't begrudge her if that was what she's planning. It would mean a lot to his guardian. After all, there's a reason why she jumped on the idea of fostering him when the priests at the shrine asked her to. The thought that someone cares and looks out for her would cheer his guardian up a lot.

Mari Mochizuki lost her entire family in a freak accident at their ancestral home and her work in Tokyo - compelled to work even though there was a family gathering she was to attend to -saved her from being one of the casualties.

The girl with her hair pinned up by barrettes beamed at him. "That's great! What was her favorite ones? Was it the danish or the cheesecake? Fruit cakes are no go since, you know, it's December. It would be very rude of me to bring one, even _if_ it was her favorite. Hey, Minato! What do you…"

Ryoji slowly turned his attention to his right, chewing on the piece of meat and carrot that was in his lunchbox, in order to see what made Hamuko stop and what he saw surprised him. Though, in all honesty, he shouldn't have been surprised. Minato was already fast asleep on his table and his lunchbox clean and tidied up. The space he took up on Ryoji's table was suspiciously clean of any scattered rice, which meant Minato have cleaned his area so fast and discreet that neither him and Hamuko noticed he was done.

"...I shouldn't be surprised but…"

"Yeah, it is **still** surprising."

Hamuko nodded at his words. With Minato abruptly leaving them alone to spend the rest of their lunch break in sleeping, Ryoji and Hamuko found no reason to continue their discussion on what pastry they would be bring for Ryoji's guardian. Sure, both of them have their own allowances to spend whatever fancies their attention but they prefer having Minato handle their money. Her brother has an uncanny ability to get ridiculous discounts from the shops they went to, and it was only their own background in magic stopping them from thinking Minato had cast a spell on him to be more 'discountable'.

Instead, they continued on the rumors each of them wanted to ask to the other: the missing body of a guy at Udagawa for Hamuko and the Stripper Lady at Shinjuku for Ryoji. They were deep in discussion on which one would be more dangerous to the public that when the rest of their classmates came back and settled on their own seats, the two of them were still talking on whether or not it is possible for the Stripper Lady to pass her curse to their female teachers. Good thing that their tables were already tidy, with both of their lunches done and tucked away under their desks, when the English teacher came, startling them back to their respective seats under the threat of being held back after school hours. Or else they would have been reprimanded by their strict teacher.

Just like what he did earlier that day, Ryoji tuned out most of the stuff in the class. His writing, which was **absolutely not** chicken scratch as to what Minato alluded it to, was completely comprehensible for him. It wasn't his fault that his best friend couldn't decipher it. His writing was _elegance_ in written form, something the sleepyhead couldn't appreciate.

Sadly, the girl at his left disagreed at most of his claims of his brilliance, though she quite agreed with him that her twin can't appreciate elegance even when it was thrust in front of his drooling face. Unfortunately for him - once again -, she was referring to her own unique script, which was littered with flowing cursives and several hearts and smilees. Ryoji wondered how in the world their teachers let her get away with vandalizing the exam sheets with smilees and other _kawaii_ icons at edges.

With only 3 classes left before they were to be released from what many, including him, call as _hell on earth_ , his mind wandered to the condition of his guardian. Mari-sensei was a hardworking woman, hell-bent on serving the populace, though she concentrates much on the welfare of children. She's a pediatric nurse and sometimes she treats Ryoji as a patient in the hospital she worked at, which often irritates him. Not that he would say it to her, he liked being taken care of and the way his guardian cares for him was something he wouldn't want to miss.

He grinned at the memory of him being tucked in bed, being served with a steaming, hot soup. Not even the vague feeling of him being under the weather in that memory stopped him from sporting a grin. Oh, but the knowledge that there was a heaping load of homework and other workbooks waiting for him whenever he gets sick soured his mood immediately. The best things life certainly doesn't come for free.

If it did came as free, there's a follow-up bill from the billing company awaiting a week after, voiding the meaning of _free_ in a flurry of billing statements.

"Stop that, Ryoji, or else it would be stuck on your face _permanently._ "

He looked up and saw Hamuko giving him a pout, carrying her bag on one arm and the other all readied to give him a flick on his forehead. Backing up himself on his seat, he looked to his right for help. All he found was Minato looking at him with a disappointed look, his hand on face like he was _exasperated_ from what he did.

"W-What did I do!?" he cried out loud, confused.

"Ugh. Nothing! Get up! Class is over!" She emphasized it by pulling up his bag and pushed all his things on the table in it. "We won't get them fresh and hot if we are late and I fully know she'll love it _hot_ and _crispy_!"

"H-Hey! Slow down! It won't fit if you don't arrange them properly!" He grabbed his bag from her hands and went on arranging his notebooks and books in the right order for the flap to be closed. "What bit you that you're in a rush?"

"The owner of the shop just e-mailed me a minute ago that they're going to close early because they were going to have a trip this evening! And everything's half price because of it!"

Both of the boys looked up to her, shocked expression blatantly visible on their faces. "Half price!?" he and Minato simultaneously asked out loud, disturbing a couple of their classmates who were either packing things up or just plain chatting to pass the time. "Really!?"

"Shssh! Quiet you two!" she hushed back, placing her forefinger over lips. "She just e-mailed me because we are her favorite customers and it's not even posted at their store. They will be posting it until 3:30, so hurry up! Minato! You too! I'm going to the shoe lockers now."

Ryoji turned to his right and saw Minato giving him a very serious look. He nodded at the silent question being asked and hastily cleaned up his desk as he pulled out his scarf under his desk and wrapped around his neck. His best friend also did the same, quickly cleaning his things up and almost ripped his small bag with the heavy load of his belongings. With a sigh, he helped his best friend and together, they rushed out of their classroom.

When the two of them had reached then ground floor of their school building, there they found Hamuko waiting for them at the glass doors, hands crossed over around her chest and pout in her face. "Geez, hurry up!"

"We're coming already! Sheesh!"

* * *

Just as what the owner of _"Two-Four Juice"_ had e-mail to Hamuko, they were literally packing up everything in their small bakery/cafe, pastries all boxed up for take-out and freshly baked bread being placed inside papers or plastic bags, waiting for their respective customers to fetch them up. From what he could decipher from the ramblings of the employees behind the closed door, they were given a very long rest from work after that day. So to ensure nothing in the small but famous bakery be wasted due to spoilage, they were baking everything in their shelves and e-mailing their patrons to buy their favorite products with the enchanting half priced tag.

True to their expectations, both of his and probably the owner's as well, many of their patrons were already lining up inside the bakery/cafe. Though the number was countable with his own two hands, it was still large due to how the space inside the bakery/cafe was built. Huddling side by side, slightly shivering from the change in temperature after coming through the doors, many of them were lining and hoping that their desired products would still be available for them to be purchased when they arrived at the counter.

"W-What are you reading there, H-Hamuko-chan?" he asked, his voice shivering from the abrupt change. The air inside the establishment was so _crispy_ and _warm_ that it's the exact opposite of the scenery outside the glass windows and doors. "W-Where did you get t-that?" She was reading a very small newspaper, though it looked to be more of a tabloid than a newspaper for accuracy's sake.

"Hmmm..? Oh, this? Received from the mail this morning. You didn't checked yours? It's the monthly edition of ours truly national magic tabloid." The people around them, mostly adults, rolled their eyes at Hamuko's words, earning a silent sigh of relief from Ryoji. "It's kinda interesting since they're doing some special recap on the international events at the back. See?"

She then faced him the tabloid and he can read a couple of headlines that wouldn't seem out of place from a normal newspapers, except for the concepts being used. Like _'2007's America's Next Top Witch goes International!', 'Ancient Illusion Spell Triggered during a Normal Tour in the Nile!'_ and _'A Review on the English-exclusive Killing Curse and the Theories on How it Actually Works!"_. The last one caught his interest.

"Can I read it?" he asked, his voice already calmed down and settled. "The last one looks interesting."

"Sure, no problem." She handed him the tabloid and turned back towards her brother, who was passing the time in the line by taking several pictures of the bread and pastries being displayed. "Hey, Minato! How much do have there? I have about..."

He tuned out their conversation, his wallet already at the mercies of his best friend, and concentrated on reading the article. A review on the Killing Curse. It was one of the most popular Instant Death spells he had heard, or even in the entire world, which rivals even the most hard worked and established Forced Passing spells. If what he remembered was correct, the spell was categorized originally as a Light/Holy Spell since it forces the soul of the target to pass on to the afterlife.

"...took the original [form] of Abracadabra, meaning "I create as I speak" or "speak the blessing" and altered _abra_ (from _bara'_ , "to create ex nihilo") to _avada_ (from _abad_ , "to perish"). This is one example why a one letter difference could affect an entire spell to change its intended purpose. The "create" became "destroy"."

"Huh."

"Nevertheless, while it is attributed an an Unblockable Spell, that doesn't mean it is absolutely unblockable. It's form is a mixture of Light and Electrical magic, infused with Holy. While it is obvious that the spell moves in a direct line, much like most spells originating in the Western World where evading is the most logical way in avoiding it, solid objects are so far to be found the only way to stop it. The impact would destroy the said 'shield', much like how any Electrical magic would make a target explode. Though with its Light magic properties, one _could_ use a reflective surface to reflect the said Light-based spell, it is highly advisable that the 'mirror' should be sturdy enough to resist the other property of the spell, its Electrical-based side."

"Hm... So that's why defibrillators won't start up the heart of the person, because of the electric current going through the body? But that's overkill. The soul would already be... Oh. It really _killed_ it."

"As it was mentioned before, It was originally a Light/Holy spell used to destroy ailments and illnesses but now given the Instant Death Status after the spell matrix has been corrupted truly after the events of World War II. Like most spells, the effect depends on the _belief_ of the magic-users in a certain area and how often the spell was used. The Killing Curse is one of the best examples of Spell Mutation: a change in a spell that is vastly unrecognizable to its previous effect. With the belief of many magicians during the World War II pertaining to their enemies as an 'illness in their society', the spell was forcibly changed into killing the 'illness' as a whole instead of an actual illness."

"Of course, there are already accounts dating back in 1500 or even way before the era of Knights and Lords in the Western World, but most are just isolated incidents that wouldn't affect the overall effect of the spell. It only changed after a collective change in _belief,_ as it is the basis of magic (no matter the place of origin), demanded the otherwise 'illness killing spell' to be an 'Instant death' spell."

"Next!"

He looked up and caught just in time the wave coming from Hamuko at him. With resigned sigh, he folded the tabloid and put it inside his bag, all the while coming closer to the counter. Though his mind was on the article he just stowed away, his feet and body was subconsciously following the line of people wanting to buy super discounted, extra special, and rightfully delicious pastries.

"You know what I want, right? he said, grinning at the twins in front of him. "Just... make sure I still have left for the fare, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry. Your wallet won't be massacred, Ryoji. Only Minato's."

"Do that and I'd tell Auntie you skipped out Tennis Practice yesterday."

"Hey! That's unfair! I'm calling blackmail!"

"My wallet has to survive until next week."

A laugh escaped from his mouth, stopping the two siblings from arguing further. "Come on, guys. Let's hurry up. People are waiting in line," he finally said after he had wheezed out the laughter from his body.

* * *

"Mari-sensei! I'm back!"

"Mari-sensei! I brought some fresh hot pastries and bread! MInato paid it all for you!"

"They came to visit!"

A laugh came further within the small apartment, one that is both light and full of cheer, and it made the three of them to walk further into the Mochizuki Residence. He left behind to place down their shoes and put their schoolbags at the sofa while Minato and Hamuko went on to the kitchen to unload the surprisingly huge load of pastries and bread. Well, on thing's for sure, they won't have to buy food for a day or two; the amount of stuff Hamuko had bargained from the bakery was enermous, even _after_ they had divided it already amongst themselves _and ate a couple on the way._

Hanging his coat and removing his uniform's jacket, he went into his guardian's bedroom and gently gave the occupant a warm smile. "Mari-sensei, I'm home."

The woman on the bed with a pocketbook on hand returned his smile with an uplifting laugh. "Welcome home. Minato-kun and Hamuko-chan are here?"

"Yeah, they wanted to visit you and since the bakery we frequent to had a sale on their breads, she dragged us two to the shop and made us buy a lot. She claimed it was a 'get well soon' gift but..." He trailed off at the end, the unspoken statement went unsaid but his guardian already knew what he was implying. The smile of disbelief and appreciation crossed her face, making Ryoji smile further as he sat down on a stool near her bed.

"Hamuko-chan's a good girl." And was that a statement that implied several things beyong being 'good'. "Since you're here now, would you be a dear and get me some hot tea to go with the bread you three bought?"

"It won't be needed, Mari-sensei, because we already did it for you! Hush, Ryoji, we didn't do it for you, it's for Mari-sensei. Go get yours at the kitchen," a girlish voice came behind him, prompting Ryoji to turn around and gasp at the certainly impossible sight. Hamuko holding a tray of pastries on one hand while the other has another tray full of three two steaming mugs of what he assumed to be tea and her leg acting as a stopper for the door.

"W-Where's Minato-kun, Hamuko-chan?" He tried to help her but she moved sideways, evading his attempt to help her. "H-Huh?"

"Go help him at the kitchen. I wanna tell something to Mari-sensei. Girl talk~"

 _'Girl Talk'_

With a nod, he went out and silent closed the door behind him. Right outside the bedroom, Minato was standing, leaning by the wall, apparently waiting for him. He had a faraway look on his face and his attention was right outside the window beside him. He turned to Minato's direction and noticed he was staring at the direction where...

"D-Did something happened, Minato-kun? I mean, was there-"

"Hamuko got a letter this morning. The priests at Sensō-ji wants us to visit them this afternoon," his best friend spoke, attention not broken at all. "I was told by her just now. No wonder she's impatient."

"...So that's why she was so secretive this morning. I thought she was... Wait, she actually had."

"Yeah, I was surprised when she declared we're going to visit Mari-sensei this afternoon when she was so excited to go to the Library the entire evening last night."

 _'Girl Talk'_

Hamuko wants to talk to his guardian about something serious and it probably about him. After all, he was... a special case.

Ryoji looked down at his hands. They were still pale from the cold outside but...

"Do you think it has to do with me?"

"Honestly?" Minato then turned his head towards him. "I would say yes, but it has been years, Ryoji. If something was to happen, then it should have happened years ago, back when... back when..."

Minato shook his head, bringing his palms to his face and figuratively wipe away the stress he was obviously feeling. "Hamuko and I were talking about Iwatodai about a day ago and she confessed how she felt something strange when she went through the 'barrier'. And she told me about a certain group of people that were obviously _magical_ , obviously doing the things the magicians around the world have been doing for years."

Iwatodai. Honestly, he rather not go near that place but with Minato and Hamuko wanting to follow the last requests their parents had for them before they had died, his own feelings for the place were overruled by the want to be with his best friends. After all, they were the people that _literally_ made his entire world. He also had Mari-sensei, but both of them knew that the time for them to part ways was inevitable, especially when the time her being his guardian was coming to a close.

Minato and Hamuko were his, much like how he was theirs, and even without the weird bond thingy that made him unable to leave Minato (though he wouldn't want to leave him or her anyway), he chose to be with them.

"So, it's either about me or a, uh, _debriefing_ before we go there?"

"...Yeah, that's kinda accurate."

Both of them then looked outside the window, the snow still falling at quite a consistent rate that the wall of snow against the glass was rising slowly but surely. "I really hate when the Dark Hour hits during the rainy season and heaving snowfall. It's all... disgusting."

"...Wanna make some hot chocolate? I think there's still some in the cabinet."

"...Sure."


	17. XVII - a year before it all started

Here she was now, standing in front of the dormitory she was to stay in for the next four years of her high school life. The knowledge she was going to live all on her own, even though there was the possibility she's going to have a roommate or two or three in the room, was rattling her knees. She looked down at her hands, breath hitched like there was something lodged down her throat. Her hands were clammy, cold as ice yet sweating like a piece of pork belly inside a pot.

Now that she remembered about pork belly, she brought out her phone and checked the latest e-mail she received. Opening it up, she noticed it was from her brother and there was an attachment on it.

"Hey! Did you got there safely? Hope you had a safe trip, Hamuko! By the way, look what Auntie prepared for lunch!" she read, her voice imitating the emotions her brother's e-mail wanted to convey to her. "Huh. Let's see… Yep, knew it. Braised pork belly. Ugh, I should have stayed and left until lunch was done but…"

She was so excited to get into her dormitory. Hearing and reading countless stories online and from the her classmates and other friendly upperclassmen about the woes of getting unlucky in having an 'acceptable' dorm room or even getting the bad luck of having a very rude and unhelpful roommate, she had left early to start in settling down at her dorm. Rumors said that if one came early, they'll have a higher chance to get a _really good room_. Maybe even a single person type with a personal bathroom like an apartment, the Resident Assistant's (RA) Quarters were like that and from what she had learned the night before, one of the RAs had left because she had graduated already, leaving behind a vacant, spacious and well-cared for room.

The threat of letting a chance of getting a room all for herself in a dormitory for 4 years was enough for her to leave before lunch, missing the specially cooked lunch by her aunt and her brother. If she was there, she would also be one of the cooks and most likely had already taken a bite from the meal several times before serving. Sighing, she sat leaned back at the pillar of the dormitory's doorway.

It was almost lunch and while she knew she had the money to buy herself a good and filling meal at some of the restaurants at the Strip Mall nearby, she rather have the home cooked meal her brother had sent a picture of to her. Recognizing that she better start on what she had went to at an early time, she straightened herself up and pushed the door of the dormitory.

There, she was immediately assaulted by the homey feel of the lobby and the noise of the television from the entertainment area. It was almost empty, due to how it was a weekend and she had came to the place a week earlier than the date she was supposed to come. While it was quite acceptable for a prospective resident to arrive earlier than the designated date to the dormitory she would be staying at for the next couple of years, it was generally a hassle for both the prospective resident and the dormitory's staff. She had no idea why, only it was said on the online forums that it was a hassle, but other than that, she was in the dark as well as the next person coming through the doorway.

She looked around and instantly recognized the bulletin board at the right side of the lobby. Up on the wall, she approached it and noticed several postings for the upcoming events and other assemblies in the dormitory. There were also several announcements about schedules and organizations recruiting from Gekkou-kan. Made sense with how she was inside one of the dormitories sponsored by the academy. Looking for a map, she then noticed she was right behind the RA Office. There, there was a young man inside, shuffling through several papers and typing on the keyboard furiously as if he was in a hurry. Probably he was, she guessed. It was almost lunch, no, it was _already_ lunch and if she was already drooling from the mental image of a steaming hot pork belly, then the young man inside the office must have been starving from whatever mental image of his desired meal in his head

Better get this thing over with, she decided, pushing the door of the office with a smile on her face. "Hey, um, good morning…? Good afternoon? I, uh, I'm supposed to check in next week but something came up so, uh, yeah, here I am!"

The guy across the table gave her a look and it took almost all of her willpower not to cower from the almost ridiculed look she was receiving.

* * *

That was it. She couldn't take it anymore. At first, it wasn't much of a hassle. They just changed their address to a different subdivision in the city. The next was a bit confusing, they had moved to the neighboring city instead of the district nearby. But after that, it was an cycle of district-city-subdivision. It had went on for several years and she was just glad that her grades were high enough to get the attention of the school's officials.

They gave her an opening to move at one of the dormitories sponsored by the academy and while she got used to the frequent commuting from the school to the latest den her mother called as home, she'd rather save the precious money spent on travelling and use it on something much more important. After all, her education was a bit of a problematic issue between her and her mother and it was all because of the scholarship and stipend that came with it.

Only she was privy of the money she receives from the school and the moment the school discovered it doesn't get spent by its intended recipient, they'll surely cut it off, disregarding even **who** had deposited all the money in the bank account. That fact also contributed to the reason why she was dragging her suitcase to the dormitory she was supposed to stay in for the rest of her high school years. Her mom was nagging her for quite some time to give her some of her money that came from her dad, intent on using it for her own reasons.

She knew where she'll use it, though. On her boyfriend of the month, that is. Aside from hiding away from the people that blamed her father, and consequentially them as well, for their family members' deaths, her mom was so keen on finding a replacement for her dad in her heart. She understood that her mom was hurting inside, she was too was hurting up to now, but she couldn't understand why her mom was trying so hard in getting the 'love' her boyfriend-of-the-month. They always end in a mess, her mom crying over spilled cans of beer and other alcoholic drinks and her _man_ taking away whatever she deemed as his in their apartment.

It was too much for her that she's so ever grateful for the offer she received. She never realized she was _suffocating_ there, and she also realized it wasn't quite the **home** she used to come back to. Maybe it slowly went away as time passed by, but she was sure it happened after her dad disappeared. Died. Passed away. Left them to greener pastures.

She shook her head and dismissed the sad thoughts. It wasn't the place and time to think such things. She was there to have a brand new start by moving out of her mom's place. The dormitory was just a simple train ride away from Gekkou-kan and it was sponsored by the school. Many people applied to get into one of the dorms under the school, but back then she never thought much about it. Now, though, she saw why they did so.

The place was grand in a nice way. When she opened the doors, the place was so clean and neat that she thought it was a lobby of a hotel she once went with her mom. Surprisingly, it was absent of people, though the fact it was a weekend and the occupants weren't yet to arrive until a week then explained much the absence.

She sat down on the sofa nearby and rummaged through her bag, producing an opened letter from the Student Housing of the academy. It was an invitation from the academy made especially for her. Presenting it to any of the dormitories under the school would allow her to be accommodated as soon as possible, free of charge. Her dad must have thought about it before he died, for it was said in the letter that a staff of the Kirijo Group had made it possible for her; her dad was an high ranking employee of the Kirijo Group at one of their research sites, hence why he has certain benefits under his name open for his family members.

It was enough for her, though. It showed that her dad loved her so much before dying, that even after his death she still benefits it up to now.

Standing up, she went to an office where the Resident Assistant was in, judging from the hanging sign on the glass walls. The letter said the RA would help her in settling down and from the way the guy was typing furiously in front of a fellow girl like her, he was certainly the one that fits the job. Seeing no point in waiting, she opened the door and announced herself.

"Good morning. Is this the Resident Assistant's Office? I'm sorry if I'm here a bit earlier but I think it's for the…"

She stopped when she noticed the look of exasperation the RA had on his face, his hands covering his entire face and his elbow on the table. It was like he surrendered over a struggle he had been in for quite some time.

"You know, you two get her room. I don't care anymore. I'll deal with it later, just… Leave. Come back here later this evening," he said, standing up and opening a display case behind him. He then took a key from one of the key hanging inside it and handed to her. "Here, go and have it duplicated before this evening. Take all your things there. Your roommate is that girl over there, even though she's earlier than you about a minute. Now go, I want to get some rest."

Before she knew it, she was pushed along with the girl he mentioned out of the Office, their bags pushed out of the door too. When she turned around, there were suddenly blinds covering the entire office and a sign saying "Come back on Monday. 8 am". Checking the door, she found it was locked.

"Huh. Did I do something bad?"

The girl beside her snickered at her question. "I don't think so. I think he's too tired already and he just gave up. Bet you were here for the old RA's room, huh?"

"What? An RA's room?" Just what the girl was implying? "No, I came here because I can't stand being at home anymore and I had a special accommodation letter from the school. Free board and lodging for the entire 4 years."

"Wow. You too? My parents did the same for my brother and I." The girl then grabbed her bag on the floor and skipped to the doorway where a "Girls Only" signboard was hanged. "Come on, let's see the room we've given. It's going to be an amazing room, you'll just love it."

"And how can you say that? I don't even have an idea that we _can_ have an RA's room." Was that even allowed in the first place? "Besides, I don't think it's going to be our permanent room for the entire year. I heard that every year the rooms are being shuffled around."

"So? The guy gave us the key and told us to get it duplicated. It means it's ours now, he just have to fill in the documents that says it's _ours_. Anyway, what room and what floor is it?"

The key's tag had a 303 printed on it, meaning the room was at the 3rd floor. Also it's mostly likely it was either the 303 door or the third room on the floor. When they came to the front of the door, both her and her unnamed roommate were gasping at the weight they carried.

"I… can't… believe… this bag… would be so… heavy," her roommate complained, huffing between words she spoke. The girl then slumped by the metal railing around the stairwell, opening her slingbag and bringing out a bottle of water. "It wasn't that heavy when I carried it around but-"

"We're climbing up. Of course it's going to get heavy." But was that even correct? And why was she even complaining about it? It's too trivial. "And who are you anyway? I can't just call you my roommate forever," she asked, pulling out the key from her pockets and opening the door.

"Oh! Arisato Hamuko, transferee this opening! Nice to meet you!" the girl said behind her as she went in first into the room, dragging her bag inside. "What's yours?"

"Takeba Yukari. So... you're going to be my roommate this year? And a transferee too? I'm from the Middle School Department of Gekkou-kan, so I don't really get how transferring to another school is like.. Transferring to a different school after graduating from middle school sounds hard" She honed immediately to the nearest seat she found and crashed on it, her legs figuratively groaning out in relief. "Ah… That feels great."

"Woah, look at this! Are they sure whoever was in here really moved out?" her roommate exclaimed, making her look around her surrounding more closely. What she saw certainly needed to be questioned because the place looked to be occupied. There were already a couple of furniture placed inside, like a couple of bookshelves and drawers placed by the walls of the rooms and a small table complete with matching wooden chairs that fits to be a moderately sized study table/dining table. Curtains were also hanged by the walls and while the windows were tightly shut, she noticed it was wiped clean from the lack of dust that would normally darken any glass window.

"Oh, we also have a carpet. Is this… necessary?"

She looked down and gaped at the carpet she was currently on, startling her to get up and scramble off it. "Why didn't you say I was on it!? We still have our shoes on and I could have dirtied it bad." Good thing that there was a rug by the reception area at the first floor where she subconsciously used to wipe whatever dust or mud stuck underneath her shoes. "Maybe the occupant forgot to take it out and was going to return? I'm sure she has her own duplicated key with her, right?"

Hamuko nodded before slowly carrying her bag towards an empty bed further in the large room. As she claimed the bed as hers, she noticed it was also covered already in mattress cover and only needed a bed sheet to complete the get-up. There were also already a set of three pillows at each of the two beds, complete with matching dusty rose colored pillow cases.

"I think we should leave our things here and get some lunch outside. Besides, whoever stayed here before won't bother taking our clothes and pillows," she commented, placing down her belongings on the unoccupied bed and made a glance again over the entirety of the room. The room would still look nice even with the surprise furniture inside; they already got the space others would _die_ for. "We passed by at the first floor a notice saying the dining hall's not open until the day they'll formally accept residents."

Her roommate paused in her attempt to unpack and turned around towards her, an expression of surprise on her face. "You're going to treat me?! For lunch!?"

"What!?"

"Oh my gosh, how did you know I'm new to this place? Wait, I guess it's quite obvious since I'm a transferee so there's that. Hey, you know where we can get some great lunch for the great price?" She stuffed back the clothes halfway through the zipper of her duffel bag and zipped it, grabbing her other bag as she made her way to the door. "Come on, Yukari-chan! I'm hungry!"

Before she could make a reply, the girl was already out of the door. She could hear her steps echoing down the wooden staircase of the building, pulling out a sigh out of her lips.

"I walked into that one, that's for sure."

* * *

Having Arisato Hamuko as a roommate threw her expectations out of the window within a span of a day. Of course she didn't went to a dormitory before and neither the girl too, but she had expectations of having a roommate be as troublesome as she had read from novels and numerous blogs online. Messy, cluttered and plain disaster were just the few of the things she had expected from her.

The girl wasn't any of those. In fact, she was the exact opposite of bad.

Tidy, neat, helpful, and mindful. Those were just some of the qualities that many of the complainers she had read wished to have from their roommates and sadly didn't get when the actual person arrived.

She guessed she had lucked out when Hamuko was assigned as her roommate. Though the fact that the two of them were the first two residents of the dormitory that school year wasn't anything but lucky... Now that she had thought about it, maybe it wasn't luck because both of them had gone to the dorms to get a room reserved for themselves even before reservation was available online. Then again, it _was_ luck that allowed her and Hamuko to be assigned with the recently vacated RA's quarters.

...No, luck was out of the picture since the RA for the Boys' Side was desperate to get them out of the office, he was bound to throw _anything_ at them just so they would leave him alone for a few hours. And the only thing that was fetching to anyone's eyes, especially an aspiring resident, was an extra large room; the RA's quarters was the _only_ thing available at the time.

Her actual luck was having the girl as her roommate. She couldn't have a better roommate than her. If she wasn't her roommate or if somebody else was hers, then…

No, she doesn't want to think about anymore. She absolutely _couldn't_. Just imagining the possibility sent goosebumps across her body. Imagining the lack of order in their quite large room, the existence of a large pile of laundry at one corner, clutter of scattered plastic wrappers and papers on the floor, a suspiciously familiar stain on her bed that she knew wasn't there before, a roommate that felt she was their maid and had to follow them in cleaning up the mess they made…

Yes, she was glad and absolutely, positively, 100% thankful for the roommate she had. Arisato Hamuko. The girl was like her in almost every way: neat, tidy, organized, and liked to have wide and open space in their large room.

Each of their closets had their contents safely inside them and each of their laundry were at their respective corners of the room. The large space they had was made into a small living area, a few stuff toys there at the small table and a painting that was suspiciously tucked behind a closet was hanged back on the wall. The spare table they had found already inside was used as a centerpiece for their small living area, one that was covered with a very pleasing shade of pink as its tablemat. Chairs that were also inside their room were arranged neatly, creating a feeling of warmth to the hopeful visitors.

So far, only two visitors have arrived to their room for the past two weeks. The RA of the Girls' Side of the Dormitory and the Dorm Manager. Both were surprised that within a day she and Hamuko had been given the room, they managed to make it homey and unintentionally claimed the room as theirs. Well, the last part was said to be the feeling the Dorm Manager got about their room, which was told to the RA that gave them the key who _told_ them later when they returned the original room's key. They didn't plan to make a statement but if that was the case, then she gladly accept it. After all, the room was larger than the regular rooms in the dormitory.

One thing that she also didn't expect from Hamuko was the pace their friendship grew. It was expected to be friends with one's roommate; human decency and respect for others were a must especially if one has to live in a residential area like a dormitory, which was just a smaller scale apartment complex. Since Hamuko was a transferee and she was a regular in the school she was going to attend, she brought on herself to help her in school; there, their friendship grew from 'just roommates' to 'classmates' and 'almost-best-friends'.

Almost-best-friends, because as far as she knew, many of her so called 'best friends' were a bunch of 'fakes' after they learned the matter of her alcoholic mother and dead father. They saw her as a potential problem, a source of unnecessary burden if people discover them being close with the girl whose father caused many deaths around a decade ago, hence becoming 'fakes' in their friendship. Her father was a very influential and well-known person who almost knew everyone, therefore making almost everyone knew him and his family.

Then again, it was back in middle school. Maybe Hamuko could be the best friend she hope she'll have. Them being classmates in the same homeroom just sweetened the situation in her favor. Nice, sweet, tidy, smart… It was like she had hit the jackpot. She's also **not** a slob!

* * *

Loud music echoed through their dormitory's large hallways and staircases, earning confusion from her as she climbed up the stairs to the third floor. Where in the world was the loud but surprisingly good pop music coming from? It was 4:39 in the afternoon, just a few weeks after enrollment, and she haven't joined a single club in their school yet, allowing her to come back to the door at a much earlier time than the ones that have a club already. While it wasn't disturbing anyone at the moment, since most of their fellow residents were still either at several of the club's recruitment presentations or at Paulownia Mall doing some shopping or taking advantage of the free time at the arcade, she was pretty sure volume _that_ high wasn't allowed in the building.

When she arrived at their door, she was absolutely sure it came from their room. Only it was now slightly muffled and a bit quieter. Opening it, she was then bombarded with the loud noise, making her quickly close the door. Her ears were still ringing from the sudden bombardment when it opened again, revealing a headphoned Hamuko with an apologetic smile plastered over her face.

"W-What are you doing..?" she asked at first but when she noticed the girl hastily pulled her in and pressed a button on the remote control on her hand did she repeat herself. The question went unanswered for a moment, with Hamuko thinking or remembering what she was _exactly_ doing, before she brightened up and went towards her side of the room. Now that she can see clearly without her vision getting blurred from the overabundance of noise, she noticed Hamuko was setting up… wallpaper.

"You know that wallpapers aren't allowed unless you asked permission first." The girl nodded at her, making a hum in reply. "Okay, so you _did_ get permission. Then can you explain why you're playing very loud music at this time? I heard it all the way from the first floor."

"Oh."

"Oh, yes. Explanation?" She doesn't want to be in the same room as her when the Resident Assistant comes. Or worse, the Dorm Supervisor. That woman was a force to be reckoned with.

"I saw this new type of wallpaper that was being sold earlier by some man at the station. They say it prevents sound coming from both sides of the wall when it's placed," her roommate replied, smiling as she climbed up on top of her bed and successfully managed to reach the part where the ceiling and the wall met with her wallpaper. "I forgot that I should test it out when I completely installed it. Sorry for the music; got carried testing it with the sound system."

"Huh. Sounds like a scam to me. You sure its legit? And where did you even get _that_?" There at the corner of the room, right where there's a spare electrical socket for charging or a lamp, stood an admittedly heavy-looking and bulky sound system. It wasn't there when they left for school, nor it was there when they arrived nor even when they cleaned the entire room.

"That? My brother and his best friend won some raffle last week at Akihabara. Since there wasn't any space back home nor at his guardian's place, they had it delivered here."

"...Seriously?"

"Totally. I didn't knew about it until it was delivered here just an hour ago. Those two just then sent me an e-mail, apologizing for the surprise delivery and wishing me good luck in whatever plans I would make for that." Her roommate opened up her phone and showed the e-mail with a smiley face at the end. "And since I already bought these wallpapers, I thought maybe I could test it out. Oh and yeah, they knew I have a much _bigger_ room than the normal ones so they also said I couldn't have any reason _not_ to reject it."

Looking around the room, she couldn't deny the statement Hamuko's brother made about their room. Aside from the table, chairs and carpet that were apparently part of the room's furnishing, there wasn't anything much inside. They only just managed to get their hands on the curtains and hanged pictures of their own choosing at the walls. It was pretty much _empty_ at the moment.

"He's not exactly wrong but…" She gestured to the sound system again before continuing, "When did you start playing music again?"

"About half an hour ago. Why?"

Resisting not to sigh, she went to sound system and pulled its cord out of the socket. "Unless that wallpaper of your actually works, we can't have this play, okay? The Dorm Supervisor hates loud noise and I don't want to be reprimanded by her."

Hamuko snickered as she sat down on her bed. "I don't hear you saying you _don't want_ it."

She won't admit it but having a sound system in their room at certain times have its uses. Like playing her favorite songs and probably some calming tunes when the stress gets to her.

"Anyway, I'm going to get dinner at the dining hall. You?" By the rate she was installing her wallpapers, she would only cover the part of the wall where her bed was. And with the pile of rolls at the end…

She wasn't finishing anytime soon, that's for sure.

"Can you please have mine packed? My meal card is at the table, under that paperweight. Also my lunchbox's there beside it; can't miss it!"

"Are you-"

"Please! Think of it as a favor!" Hamuko exclaimed, voice strained slightly as she tiptoed on her pillow to reach the edge of the wall and ceiling. "I'll make it up to you! I promise!"

"I'll hold on to that." She was her roommate for a year; an entire year of spending time with her. No way she won't be able to run away from that. "Huh, so that's why I can't find you at the dining hall when it's dinner for the past weeks. You had it all packed."

Then again, Hamuko wasn't in their room until curfew starts, which was just before 8 in the evening. But she noticed she stopped it so during those times she was probably finishing some things outside the dorms. Hamuko made a comment how her family had a house in the area before; she was probably checking out where she lived before.

Just when she was about to close the door of their room, she remembered something she had meant to ask to her the moment she came back to their room. "Oh yeah, before I forgot, have you already joined a sports club? I heard it's required for everyone now, ever since two years ago."

"Not yet," came Hamuko's reply. "But I'm a part of the tennis club back in my old school so I'd probably check that one out. You?"

She leaned on the doorway and inspected the wallpaper her roommate bought. "I'm not that interested on running around much, so I guess the Archery Club's for me. Do you know where the clubrooms are?" Its color seemed to complement the already-installed wallpaper on their walls but for some reason it conflicts with the curtains. The curtains may have to go just to balance the colors out.

"Uhuh."

Ignoring the almost dismissive answer to her question in favor of thinking Hamuko was too engrossed on her task, she closed the door and made her way to the dining hall. As she crossed the short concrete path connecting the main building of the dormitory to the building where the kitchens and the dining hall was found, she passed by some of their classmates, chatting underneath the trees that were scattered in the small garden between the two buildings.

"Hey, Yukari-chan! You're getting dinner already? Quite early, don't you think?"

"I want to get started on my homework early, and I have to think which club I should choose. I heard it's mandatory now," she replied to the ponytailed girl in front of her. "I'm not a very athletic person so any running is a no for me. Which means track and tennis is out of my list."

The pigtailed one laughed lightly at her admission. "And the swimming clubs are too…"

"Yeah. They're a bit…"

"Showy," all three of them spoke in unison, laughing at the end.

"I'm going for tennis. She's going for track. You?"

"Archery," she replied. "But what if you came to them and they're already full? Won't that be bad for us if that happened?"

The girl by her left answered for her ponytailed friend, who was playing with her hair while she's thinking of answer. "I think they said they'll be forced to join one of the school committees like the Library or the Health Committee."

She winced at the last part. She heard some rumors how the Nurse of their department's Clinic had a weird fascination with the occult and was often spending his time making some mumbo-jumbo tonics in the Nurse's Office. Many said it was one of the various reasons why they try and maintain a healthy lifestyle in school as to avoid getting sent to the Nurse's Office.

Effective may be the _'alternative medicines'_ he was giving out, the things that were used to make one could have made one sick again after getting cured.

"Okay, I think that's enough for me to do my best _not_ to get in those Committees." The Library Committee wasn't better off too. Many claimed the teacher handling the Committee was often absent and the students were doing most of the maintaining of the Library. It wasn't something she wished to do most of her time in school. "Archery's meeting every morning and every other afternoon, so it's good for me."

Both of the girls agreed to her statement and said their goodbyes to her as they went back to their rooms. She had to agree with them too, archery was the best out of all the options. It didn't have a lot of strenuous activities like track and tennis does when there's a meet coming up nor was there a weekly training regimen needed since as far as she knew, archery's all about accuracy.

However, as she passed the lunchbox to the old lady over the counter along with her and Hamuko's meal card, she felt she had underestimated something crucial and somehow made an error she'd regret in the future.

* * *

Sneaking out of the room she shared with Yukari was much _easier_ compared to sneaking around the hallways of their dormitory. Often, Yukari was already asleep before 11:30 hits or by chance she was up doing something school-related (she's one of _those_ people who believed sleeping early has a correlation to beauty), Yukari wouldn't mind her going out to get some fresh air out of their room. True, their room sometimes gets a bit stuffy even though their room placement was the best one in getting the breeze coming from the sea.

Yukari wouldn't mind her going out of their room but the same wasn't the case for their Resident Assistant responsible for the Girls' Area as well as their Dorm Supervisor. Just like what she had assumed before coming to Koto-ku, and what was the custom in residences with magicals living in them for almost a decade already though it just seemed to be some sort of strict curfew mandate to others, it was unsafe to be out in the streets when midnight strikes. For almost a decade, that kind of **rule** was an unspoken one; for many had no concrete explanation to the people that succumbed to Apathy Syndrome, who were _coincidentally_ out in the streets when it struck them. No one want to admit nor point out that because they were in the streets, they caught Apathy Syndrome; it was absolutely rude for the _'accuser'_ and shameful for the _'accused's'_ family.

So, because of that unspoken rule, one that was adapted by many people through various whispers by friends and keen observations by others, their dormitory's security guards were in constant patrol when curfew struck and it gets more active when midnight comes close. She bemused that even though most don't have an idea that danger _actually_ lurks when midnight strikes, they still have that strange _intuition_ to be on guard when the distortion happens.

On one hand, she was glad that people living inside Koto-ku were in the _know_ despite having no actual knowledge on what they fear, while on the other, she was exasperated because she would be wasting precious time climbing down the stairwell of their building and up during the **Dark Hour** when she could use that time to further investigate the area of Koto-ku during the distortion. After all, she wouldn't be caught if the catcher was stuck inside their coffin when the **Dark Hour** hits.

Nevertheless, she snuck out of their room and successfully managed to get to the rooftop without the guards being alerted. It was also a blessing in disguise that their dormitory has no recording cameras inside the building despite it being a norm nowadays, especially with the Kirijo Group's technology running rampant in the ward. No one would know that she's out of her room and she would make sure that no one would also discover it afterwards. Hence why she's making her way down the metal emergency stairwell of the building.

Landing on the concrete sidewalk, she took in her surrounding closely. Once again, people were absent and coffins replaced the ones that used to be, puddles of blood-like liquid pooling at the gutters as well as the holes on the asphalt of the road, and the skyline stained with the ominous yellow green color of the moon and the sickly green of the night sky. Stars were absent, confusing her the first time she saw the scene but soon grew accustomed to their absence. Then again, it was the proof that the place she was in was a _different dimension_ than just an absolute scenery change.

It was nigh impossible to remove the stars that were out in space so it was much easier to believe that the entire earth was instead 'removed' or 'displaced' than the entire universe 'removed'. It at least explained why certain magics involving or having a relation with the stars, planets and other extraterrestrial bodies failed spectacularly.

It was one thing she had learned and studied seriously before coming to Koto-ku alone. Since she was going to deal with the **Dark Hour** all by herself, her brother and their best friend decided to help her in studying what others had discovered about the distortion the entire world was swallowed into for almost 10 years. One, when Japan hits midnight, the entire world gets engulfed into a dimension. Not one place or two but the **entire world** got dragged into the weird distortion that started in the said country, hence people preparing themselves when it struck, timezones be damned.

Who cares if it was noon halfway across the world? The sun just turns darkens as if it was a solar eclipse and the daytime skyline turns hellish red, complete with black clouds to create the ideal 'demonic invasion' some people had been fantasizing before.

Second, the distortion lasted for exactly one hour. 60 minutes. The reason was still a mystery yet no one would complain about it. It could have been much longer and everyone would prefer a shorter distortion than a longer distortion, especially with its inhabitants. Which brought her to the third important topic she learned.

Third, manifestations of people's _darkness_ appear and would try to 'consume' the mind of people around them. No one had an exact idea how or where or _why_ they appear but countless observations on them showed that they were composed of _emotions and pure energy_ that were, for a reason, given form and a minor degree of sentience. Enough sentience to recognize prey **and** predator.

Though it was hypothesized that people with high levels of emotional grief can hasten the appearance of the _Shadows_ around them, as it was observed for many occasions, it couldn't be confirmed for the criteria of 'emotional grief' was too broad to investigate further.

Fourth, certain magics were **unusable** during the distortion, leaving with magically infused objects to be used in combat. Normal weaponry also failed to do any harm. Which was the discovery of 'purification'-class magics able to 'purge' the _Shadows_ was something everyone in the know celebrated in discovering.

Fifth, certain people **could** fight the _Shadows_ , either physically or doing some unknown magic, that anyone discovered to have the **capacity** to do so were 'requested to be involved in researching the cause personally'. She was thankful that the priests saw fit _not_ to report her, her brother as well as their best friend to the government.

There were more for but those five were the _core_ _ideas_ she has to remember, especially there were many things left unknown about the phenomena. Like the case-to-case basis of _Shadow_ appearances at certain locations and the suspicious lack of them at certain religious/spiritual areas while some have.

Still, with almost 10 years of studying the Shadows and the Dark Hour, it wasn't enough for the magicals to find out the cause of the distortion as well as the appearance of the Shadows. The suspicious barrier that also sprung up around the Koto-ku at the same time the distortion happened didn't help in stopping the rest of the world from pointing fingers in Japan's direction. What made it worse was the fact _no one_ can get anything magical in nature from the area.

She was absolutely sure that the barrier also affecting any magical from leaving the area was found by accident. A very _lethal_ accident, leaving only a single survivor from the _Shadow_ onslaught who had hid himself inside a room at one of the buildings at the barrier's border. The report she had read on their venture was suspiciously sparse but from what she gathered, the _monsters_ inside the area were numerous and with them running out of 'bomb'-type artifacts to combat them, they were unsuccessful in leaving the ward intact.

The splash of a knocked-over can of soda to the puddle of blood-like liquid broke her thoughts, reminding her to focus her thoughts and push away the stuff she had read and studied before coming to Koto-ku. If she was to investigate the area where she and her brother had luckily escaped, she better concentrate on the matter on hand.

Paper talismans on her jacket's pocket and a reserve batch on her jeans' pockets, she felt safe she could escape any of the _Shadows_ ' ambushes. But for the past three days she had started in her excursions, she noticed that the area around the Dormitory Village was empty of _Shadows_. It wasn't a sign for her to drop her guard though. Minato wasn't there with her, and neither Ryoji too. She was all alone on her own.

With the mental map of the area in her mind ready, she crossed the streets of the concrete jungles towards the train station. The area around the dormitories were already done and so far, she found no signs of a _container_ in that area. Hence why she decided to expand her area of research and trudged on towards Iwatodai Station.

Arriving at the station, she noticed immediately something strange. A person was standing in front of the stations' stairs and from the stance the person was making, they were either waiting for quite some time already. It then dawned to her that probably **she** was the one they were waiting.

It was bad that nobody outside of the ward knew what was happening inside; the news reports being reported by the non-magical side on the number of Apathy Syndrome victims only made it worse for their hearts. To have proof that there were active people inside the area and most likely felt _betrayed_ by the rest of society for abandoning them to the _Shadows_ …

The person was making their way towards her, shaking off her worries and prompting her to scramble back to where she came from. Only when the unknown person spoke out that she stopped and immediately berated herself on her own stupidity.

" **Arisato! Stop there!** "

Of course, she had forgotten that there were **people** inside Koto-ku. She had met one person and two of _his_ best friends before. She also had shared thoughts and theories with _him_ before at the National Library on what the _Dark Hour_ actually was and _he_ had given her a way to escape from the _Shadows_ in the form of a magically-infused gems. To forgot that, especially when _he_ helped her in finalizing her papers in Gekkou-kan… That was just **stupid**.

"S-Senpai! H-Hi!"

Aragaki-senpai stood there in front of her, frowning at her like she just took away the last slice of cake that was inside the refrigerator. He had a beanie on his head and the coat he had on his body was shut, most likely to stop the chill of the midnight breeze to reach him. And he was holding on a large hammer that immediately morphed into a baton.

"W-What the? Senpai, where did you bought that- No, that's super expensive! How did you-" She was stopped from asking when Aragaki-senpai brought his hand in front of him, a universal sign to _'shut up'_. Instead of protesting, she focused on the weapon he had. It was magical in nature, that's for sure, but find one in front of her… Those types of weapons are **expensive** and most were reserved for combating _youkai_ at the countryside. Some of the guards around important infrastructures in Tokyo had those types of weapon on hand and were used in combating _Shadows_ to stop them from doing any damage to the said buildings. And those weapons had an **allotted budget** by the government.

Then again, the people Aragaki-senpai must be friends with were apparently **rich** so… But magic was _dead_ inside the ward so no one can enchant the said weapons. And the weapon enchanters in Tokyo and the rest of Japan were being watched and their transactions being monitored closely by the government, due to the matter of the monsters in the distortion. So… _how?_

"Mitsuru noticed an active person for days, circling the area of the Dormitory Village. Luckily, we already cleared that area a week before, so it's safe from the Shadows. But when she noticed the same active person making their way towards Iwatodai Station, where we still haven't cleared it completely, she felt afraid."

…Mitsuru? As in _Kirijo Mitsuru-senpai_? She was like them?

"And since I was already here, doing my _midnight walks_ , I volunteered. Imagine my surprise to see you, instead of a scared civilian. Can you sense her, Mitsuru?"

…Sense? She's a _scanner_?

" _I can. This is surprising. She has the potential, Shinjiro_ ," came a low sounding voice that felt it passed through a speaker. Sound grainy like a cellphone call. It was also so low, she could have missed if it weren't for the lack of any noise or sound during the _Dark Hour_. She then noticed Aragaki-senpai brought his free hand to his ear and… An _earphone_? They have some sort of _electricity_ inside the _Dark Hour_?

She couldn't hear anything afterwards but from the way Aragaki-senpai was making faces in front of her, deep in an argument with the one on the other side of the argument, she was sure they confused about her. Confused why Aragaki-senpai wasn't surprised to see her and probably confused why she appeared all of a sudden. She remembered Aragaki-senpai dropping a word a few weeks ago about how troublesome it was for him and the others to fight when they were only few.

Now that she connected Aragaki-senpai's allies to his friends, few was absolutely an **understatement**.

Noticing the wind-up wristwatch on Aragaki-senpai's wrist, she then remembered that she better hurry up and return back to her dormitory. Or else she would be caught up in the transition and people would be _very confused_ as to how she was outside at the streets when she was just in the dorm hallways a minute ago. Well, in their perspective, that is.

"Uh, sorry but I really have to go now," she interrupted the one-sided argument in front of her. "Time's running out and I just snuck out of my dorm. The Dorm Supervisor and the guards don't allow anyone to go out past midnight and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go. I'll go with her, Mitsuru. We can talk this later, okay? Focus on Aki instead. You know without us he'll just… Fine. See you later."

Aragaki-senpai then gave her a look before shaking his head in exasperation. "I should have told Mitsuru about you _months_ ago but you just have to… Alright, where's your dorm? Was it the co-ed or the girls only?"

"…Co-ed, Senpai."

After that, the two of them walked quietly down the empty streets of the city, confusing her to the point she had to the break the silence and ask a question in order to break the figurative ice between them. "Um Senpai? You three are the only ones _cleaning_ the streets here?" she asked, hoping that it would convey her confusion to the guy beside her. From their small talks at the Library weeks ago, she knew that the Aragaki-senpai had a couple of allies in fighting the _Shadows_ inside the city. She just wanted to confirm it as well as hoping he would open up more information to her.

"Yes. Just three of us, though there are some that are active but can't fight so they're not here unless something happens that we need them."

"Ah… Oh yeah, do Kirijo-senpai belong to the Kirijos that used to live here? Here in Koto-ku?" The Kirijos were the ones responsible for the area they're standing on, but they soon disappeared from the limelight as the years passed by. They still occasionally contact the magical government, however due to their decision to withdraw from the magical society, the entire area of Koto-ku slowly but surely went off the government's radar.

Of course, everyone was suspicious if the perpetrators of the incident was the Kirijo Family but the lack of news pertaining to the Kirijo Family and the fact that the Kirijo Group famous in the non-magical world weren't violating the International Statute meant the Kirijos had no hand whatsoever in the matter. It was magical in nature and as far as everyone knew, the Kirijos had **abandoned** their magical heritage.

Unless they were… No, she needed more information and so far, she learned that the Kirijo Group was down to only two members, the CEO and his daughter, Mitsuru Kirijo. The situation was too complicated for her to make any assumptions and it would be much better in the long run to withhold any judgments.

"I think. She's rich and I believe her family was already rich way before her grandfather was even born. So maybe she is."

"Ah."

Silence returned for a minute, before Aragaki-senpai asked her a question. A question she was waiting to be asked. "So, why are you out and looking like searching Shadows? I thought you were only looking ways to keep safe, not ways to fight."

"I was just checking out the place, Senpai," she answered. "It has been _years_. Last time I was here, I was six? Seven? Around kindergarten?"

"I know that. What I'm asking is _why_ you are out _right now_. Not _why_ you are here. I know for a fact that you've been at the Residential District a week ago, looking at the houses. Mitsuru saw you there while we were on patrol." Aragaki-senpai then stood in front of her, stopping their walk back to the dormitory, and gave her a glare. "If we hadn't cleared this area before, you would have been Shadow Chowder, Arisato."

Grimacing, she looked down on the ground. She knew he wouldn't accept that flimsy excuse she gave to him. "I can _fight_ them," she reasoned. "I have been in this distortion for years, Senpai. It would stupid for me _and_ the others _not_ to learn ways in fighting those monsters."

"You're still not answering my question, Arisato."

She didn't answer. If word got out that she and the priests at Sensouji had an idea what was the cause of the barrier, and possibly of the barrier _and_ the Dark Hour, chaos will ensue and she would be in the center of it. Minato and Ryoji as well. All of them swore to keep it a secret until they could find more information. If they didn't, all three of them would be in danger.

And what Aragaki-senpai was asking of her… She still couldn't trust him with what she knew.

"I… I want to help," she said, picking on the most understandable answer. "I have ideas and experience about this. I also have ways to fight those monsters." She looked up to his eyes. "Is it wrong for me to do something about it, especially now that I'm here?"

Aragaki-senpai mulled over her answer and that was exactly she wanted for him to do. After all, she was a potential 'recruit' in their small team and she came outside of the barrier. While she doesn't have an entire library of information in her head, she has ideas about the _Dark Hour_ and fighting the _Shadows_. And they were lacking in manpower. Aragaki-senpai couldn't afford to antagonize a potential 'recruit' in front of him.

It would also work in her favor. As far as she knew, they spent _years_ surviving in Koto-ku where magic was all but nonexistent in it. They have ways in combating the Shadows and they're at 'ground zero' of the weird distortion.

"Alright. I'll stop. Until then, I'll wait for your answer. But if you're still going to do this every night, would you mind giving us your help?"

She couldn't help but smirk when he said it. "Are you asking me out, Senpai?" she asked wryly. "Because I'm not interested in romance at the moment."

Aragaki-senpai sputtered at her question, making him back off a bit from her. "W-What the? No! I'm asking if you would join Mitsuru, Aki and I in fighting them!" He shook his head. "I'm concerned about your safety, alright? Safety in numbers and Mitsuru has some gadgets that kept us in contact with one another."

"And honestly speaking, I can tell you're looking for something. You help us, we'll help you. Is that a deal?" he asked, bringing up his free hand.

Worked in her favor. "Deal," she answered, taking his hand and shaking it.

* * *

"I can't believe it. Tell me, now. How!?"

"It's a secret, Yukari-chan~ I can't tell you because you're _not_ qualified to be told. Rules are rules."

"But… It's some kind of 'neighborhood patrol' group! What makes it so _secretive_?"

" **Because** it **is** a 'neighborhood patrol' group! You know, burglars and other creepy people in the streets at night. Besides, I'm just a new recruit. Not really allowed to go out and do what the Senpais do at the moment."

She frowned at what Hamuko just told her. It was already halfway through the school year and she just only knew about her roommate being a member of that super-exclusive club in school. No, in the entire Academy.

Everyone knew about SEES. The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. A club consisted only by three members, three super elusive and out of this world members. The heiress and current Student Council President of Gekkou-kan Gakuen's High School Department, Mitsuru Kirijo; the Boxing Club Vice-Captain, Akihiko Sanada; and…

In all honesty, she couldn't place what role Shinjiro Aragaki played in their school aside from being Miss Student Council President and avid boxer's best friend. She heard rumors of how Aragaki-senpai was the best in English in the entire school and how he was also the unnamed Cooking Club's President. But those were rumors and the only fact she can get was that Aragaki-senpai was their best friend and was also elusive from the rest of the student body, just like the previous two.

Sure, they could see them at the hallways but there's this weird detached feeling everyone would get just by getting near them. She felt it was only their popularity getting into everyone's mind.

And what made them more popular, aside from having positions in their school. rumored or not, was that the three of them go out and patrol the streets of Tatsumi Port Island and the nearby districts of Koto-ku. The police confirmed that the group caught several wannabe-criminals on the street and people _applaud_ their work because of it. As such, it was a fantasy of many to be with the mysterious senpais when they do their patrols.

 _How do they act with one another? Why do they do it in the first place? What is the purpose of the club other than to maintain 'peace and integrity'? And what's up with the_ ** _'Execution Squad'_** _in the club's name?_

She, too, have these questions in her head and right in front of her was a person who could answer all of them in one go. But obviously, things won't go that easily.

"Fine. Just don't get in danger, okay? I don't want to be in trouble because you weren't being careful." It somewhat made sense because she heard that club was created back when those three were in middle school. And to have the club's member count stuck at _three_ for a very long time, the reason for such thing must be a very big thing. "Anyway, I have to go now. Don't forget to lock the door. And your key too!"

"Uhuh. Sure, I still have to buy something at a shop near the mall. Meet you at class."

She then closed the door and made her way to the front doors of the dorm. There she met some of their classmates as well as fellow Archery Club members at the front desk, signing the logbook.

"Hey, good morning. Did you got that shot yesterday? Sorry if I wasn't there, I had to bail out early because of some family matters," one of her fellow club member spoke, earning a sigh from her. "Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Not really. Club got cancelled just as you left, so you have nothing to worry. Our club advisor got into some trouble with the staff because of some problems with our budget." It was a shock to everyone there to see their club advisor be called out to the Administrative Building and having the club ended early. It was more shocking to hear afterwards that the reason why their equipment were too _lousy_ was because of budget siphoning. "So yeah, you really didn't missed anything."

She really doesn't want to think what they're going to do at their morning meet-up. With their club advisor removed and the realization of their club's budget used by their advisor for her own personal use… It would be a wonder if there's _someone_ waiting at the shooting range for them.

The girl who was absent the day was silent, obviously in shock, and just proceeded to sign on the logbook. She couldn't fault her, everyone was absolutely confused what they're going to do now.

Walking a block to Iwatodai Station, with the fiasco of the Archery Club in her mind, she remembered what would be the case for her roommate. Like her, Hamuko was already a member of the Library Committee _and_ the Tennis Club. Although she only has the Archery Club as her only extracurricular activity, she fully knew the hardship of maintaining perfect attendance to a club. Only the Archery Club have a meeting every morning to counter the twice a week afterschool sessions.

Replacing her every morning routine of going to the shooting range and practicing her shots and posture with the daily afterschool attendance at the Library Committee and Tennis Club… She could see it was the same as hers, only it was afternoon instead of morning. Now with her discovery of Hamuko's apparent membership in SEES, she couldn't imagine how the perky girl would have the energy to do the midnight patrols.

Now the rumors of her being given a pass to get out of their dormitory after curfew and the suspicious disappearance of Yawn-B-Gones at the nearby convenience stores made sense to her. Yes, the large garbage bag under her roommate's table made complete sense too. No wonder she was droozy every morning, energy drinks do give that needed burst of energy but they leave one exhausted hours later. It's like they borrow the needed kick from the future and when the time came for the one who drank it, they'll be moving like sticky caramel.

As she entered the doors of the train, she wondered what could Hamuko be doing when she was with the senpais many wanted to be close when they do their nightly patrols. Could she be doing some kind heavy work like keeping track on what kind of laws one violates when they're caught? Or was she just stuck inside some dusty room, dealing with paperwork like those stories where new 'recruits' of certain jobs have to deal with their superiors' stuff?

Still beats the humiliating 'entrance exam' she did when she joined the Archery Club. How could a beginner shoot a bullseye right from the bat? And to think the 'beginners' around her were actually seniors wanting to make fun of actual beginners by showing off 'beginners' can shoot a bullseye.

* * *

"Really?! What did you do? Throw a talisman and pray to the gods?!"

"No, it more like pushing power through the paper and 'purify' whatever caught around it."

"Cool!"

Seriously, it has been months since she joined SEES and all she had been given was an armband and a task to watch over their resident back-up member until she had been given the proper gadget to call combat Shadows in a more efficient manner. The armband was a sign that she's officially a member of the club but it was more or less a part of their uniform. She expected it at the start since SEES was apparently a nightly watch in the city, along with fighting Shadows at the streets when midnight strikes.

No, she wasn't amused the fact that she was delegated with taking care of a middle schooler that was also active like her. And to think the kid had 'seniority' over her because she was with the group before she came. Then again, she just joined just a few months ago while the kid was pushed into the situation around a year ago. Almost a year ago; it was rude to ask how he joined because the kid was an _orphan_ and only the fact the Kirijo Group ( _a.k.a Mitsuru Kirijo_ ) made the kid their ward and thus preventing him to be drifted away in their country's haphazard foster care system.

With the kid also _active_ , he would just be _eaten_ by the Shadows and if they could help in stopping that thought becoming into reality… Then it was the best route to follow.

She didn't begrudge the kid. It wasn't something he chose for himself. What she was feeling a peeved about was that she couldn't do _anything_ while she was in the Iwatodai Dorm.

"Are you okay, Arisato-san?" the kid asked her slowly, focused on her while he was sitting on the seat in front of the Shadow-detecting console. "You were silent for a moment. And you were frowning too."

The kid was also _very polite_. So polite it _hurts_ not to be nice too. "I'm okay, Ken-kun. I'm just mad that I'm stuck here with you when I _can_ fight the Shadows with my talismans."

"But Arisato-san, you just said your talismans were limited and they're made with emergency in mind," Ken reasoned out, looking back to the console. "Wouldn't it be good if you use them when there's nothing else to use, like fighting with a weapon?"

Ken Amada, small kid with a good head on his shoulders. Never underestimate his apparent maturity.

"You're right. But I want to do something." She turned around and looked outside the window. "That reminds me, what do you know about that tower over there at Port Island?"

"Hmm? Tartarus? I have no idea but it's strange, right?" Turning towards her, he frowned. "Appearing over where the High School Department Building… Right in the middle of Port Island. All I know it's the reason why Kirijo-san wants to know more about it but they couldn't."

"Because they're too few and if all of us we're going to check it, who would watch out for the Shadows that appear at the streets, correct? I know. Senpai told me about it when I joined since it was the first thing I asked." A tower that mysteriously appeared right where the campus of Gekkou-kan Gakuen was found. One that appears only when midnight strikes and the Dark Hour happens. One that she and the others outside of Koto-ku _knew_ existed. A tower tall enough to overlook the highest building in the city _wouldn't_ be missed when they scout the area during the distortion.

But there it was, standing tall like it was meant to be there in the first place. It was infuriating at the very least. The tower was taunting them with its secrets yet to be discovered, only prevented by the fact they couldn't search its hallways. Tired of staring at the tower an island away, she looked away from the window and focused instead on the large equipment in the room.

Due to an undisclosed reason, the Kirijo Group was able to scourge up some sort of energy source that allows them to operate an electrical machine during the Dark Hour. The same secret technology enabled them to scan the entire city for any Shadow readings, which would help people capable of fighting in locating them. For now, Ken was the one watching the scanner while three seniors of the club were dispatched.

She, on the other hand, was to stay on guard and 'hold down the fort', making her the bodyguard of the middle schooler taught to handle the machine. While it was a bit unfair to her, she understood the reasoning.

If there was somebody in constant watch for Shadows, the rest could focus on fighting instead of stopping to search. Time was of the essence and the Shadows won't stop and wait for them to come. Sure, Kirijo-senpai was a scanner but she was primarily a fighter, her scanning abilities much weaker in range compared to the equipment in Iwatodai Dorm.

"So can you tell me _how_ this machine-" She knocked on the metal body of the equipment to emphasize her point. "-can tell where the Shadows are? All I'm seeing are… waves."

"Uh, from what Kirijo-san told me, the Shadows give off an a signal similar to… uh, brain waves? Like the ones doctors look for when someone's sleeping, I think? I don't really get it, honestly."

Ah, the fact the Shadows affect the mind of their victims have a correlation with the way they're found. "They eat the 'mind' so it would make sense they give off readings related to the 'mind'. Got it." Interesting. "So how _do_ they fight the Shadows quickly? I wasn't told how but they say they would show me so-"

"Ah! They're here! Let's go meet them!" The kid jumped from his seat and scrambled out of the room, earning a groan from her.

"Wait! Don't go ahead! I'm supposed to be your 'bodyguard' here!" she cried out, following in suit to the sound of the front door opening. Looking around, she didn't notice the Dark Hour had already passed by and it was already 2 minutes past midnight.

Making her way down to the Iwatodai Dorm's ground floor, she greeted the seniors. "Looks like I have to get back to my dorm now. I should be going now, Senpai."

The three seniors didn't answer immediately, confusing her. Usually they would thank her and apologize for the trouble and order Aragaki-senpai to accompany her to her dorm but instead, the three looked at each other before Sanada-senpai pushed Aragaki-senpai forward.

"Tomorrow," he started, looking behind him to Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai nodding at him. "Could you come earlier? Around 9. Mitsuru got word earlier that your 'evoker' was ready and they'll send it here tomorrow afternoon." He paused for a moment. "Wait. That's-"

"Technically _later this afternoon_ , Senpai." Feeling strangely elated from the news, coupled with the subsequent certainty of her doing _actual_ 'Shadow Execution' _,_ she continued towards the front door. "Okay then, Senpai. Thank you for having me here."

Without missing a beat, Kirijo-senpai spoke immediately to her from the front desk. "Thank you for the help, Arisato. I'm sorry if it took some time but I assure you it wasn't intentional on our part. I hope you understand." She then turned around and continued. "Shinjiro, please accompany Arisato to her dorm. Akihiko, bring Amada back to his room. We still have classes tomorrow and his classes start much earlier than ours."

"You heard her, let's go," Aragaki-senpai said in a low voice beside her as he stepped up pushed the front door open. She followed in suit, waving goodbye to the middle schooler and two high schoolers in t the dorm's lobby. When they arrived about two blocks away from the dorm, Aragaki-senpai voiced out something that she wished she wouldn't think at the moment.

"So, did you find something in the papers in the Control Room?"

It was the deal she had made with them. They gave her information, she gave her aid to them. A rather simple kind of a deal. But so far, the things she found were teetering between helpful and disturbing. She doesn't want to know if the reason why they couldn't get help in and _out_ of Koto-ku was because they were being _sabotaged._

Then again, looking from an outside perspective, it seemed to be sabotaged but she doesn't know how it looked like from the perspective of somebody in their group for a long time. Everything about SEES screamed to be an off-the-table,undercover organization, complete with a single 'official' being their handler. When she heard about them protecting people under the cover of the night, she didn't expect it to be figuratively too.

"You guys trust Ikutsuki-san, Senpai?" she asked. If Aragaki-senpai has a smidgen of suspicion about-

"Mitsuru, yes. Aki, maybe. But me, no. My trust in him is about the same as my trust on my weapons; the moment it fails me, I'll find another one." He gave her a look. "You found something."

She nodded. "I don't know if Ikutsuki-san thinks storing files about the Kirijo's Group's attempts in making a group before Kirijo-san created SEES was okay, but I'm thankful that he did so." Grimacing, she looked down on the ground. "There were a lot of people listed there as participants in an experiment and only a few came out to be acceptable. I couldn't find the rest of the files though, maybe I haven't reached them yet, but I swear there were _tons_ , Senpai."

Looking straight in his eyes, she continued, "The papers listed them being volunteers here in Koto-ku, Senpai. People in _this_ city. People that _could_ have help us now but they were deemed to be _failures_ in the files. Worse, some were listed as _disposed_."

"I know that the government does this too but many learned not to volunteer anymore after they reported that attempting to recreate the ability to enter the Dark Hour failed horribly. This however," she paused, shaking her head. "This… There were dates listed too. The group tasked by this operation kept on for about two to three years after the Dark Hour started. By that time, many magicals from Koto-ku left, saying they felt scared and many of their relatives disappeared in the middle of the night."

Aragaki-senpai kept silent, listening to her every word.

"Before, I thought, and probably many do, they were just unfortunate to fall under the monsters in the Dark Hour. But now… I think those that caught them weren't Shadows."

"Then it's a good thing that you checked those papers when Mitsuru wasn't there. She fully trusted Ikutsuki, mainly because he worked in the Kirijo Group before he was given the task to watch over Mitsuru's personal mission. She barred me from inquiring further, saying it wasn't my burden to bear."

"Do you think she knew about it, Senpai?"

Aragaki-senpai shook his head., "No, I don't think so. She works hard to save people. But having an idea about the Kirijo Group doing these kind of things, oh Arisato, she thought about it before. And most likely that's the reason she won't tell us, now that you told me about it."

Realization hit her hard right there. "She's to inherit the Kirijo Group, right? The same Group that did these kind of things, for the sake of having somebody do something about the Dark Hour. Why?"

"Why what? Why she's going to inherit it?"

"No, not that. Why would the Kirijo Group do this to the point of…" She couldn't say it anymore. "Why does the Dark Hour concern so much? So many questions coming up right now, not to mention that weird-"

She gasped.

"The tower. The school. A school owned by the Kirijo Group." Aragaki-senpai coughed lightly. "You have reached this conclusion too, Senpai?"

"It's not _that_ hard, Arisato. Mitsuru shuts up when the discussion about the tower at Port Island comes up and Akihiko doesn't care at all, as long as he something to fight. Given that it appears right in the middle of the campus, taking in the buildings of the entire area into itself…" He laughed lightly at that, giving her the impression of a joke repeated far too long for comfort. "It's not _that_ hard at all."

"Oh and look, we've arrived."

* * *

Her roommate wasn't there yet. She also didn't said a thing about her late back in class. Sighing, she stood up from her seat, forgoing her homework to inspect the table of her roommate behind her. It was neat, as expected from a neat-freak like Hamuko, but there was also a feel of organized chaos amidst the arranged notebooks and books. Upon further inspection, she noticed they weren't arranged in order but was placed in random order, as if Hamuko piled them just to avoid her table looking like a mess.

"Where does she keep her dictionary anyway?" she asked out loud, looking over the rows of books. Light novels to thesauri, Hamuko's desk had them; there was even a French-to-English dictionary but no ordinary English dictionary in sight. "Maybe under her desk?"

She pulled the drawer and the sight she saw was at odds with the scene above. It was a mess, an utter mess. Crumbled papers at one corner, a bunch of candy wrappers at the other, overflowed pens underneath a mass of envelopes… It was as if the drawer held all the mess that should have been above the table.

However, her eyes immediately found the thing she was looking for and grabbed it before her eyes watered at the mess. Who knew the sight of several weirdly shaped ink stains could hurt her eyes?

Back on her table, she calmly placed it beside her notebook and focused on her task. Just find the words and their meanings and it's done. Hamuko wouldn't know she used her dictionary. Prepared to start, she opened the dictionary and then immediately received a series of papers tucked in its pages.

Curiosity overcoming her sense of integrity, she opened one and read.

" _Found another_ _sealed_ _beside the Iwatodai Dorm. Working as an assistant in the convenience store, the_ _sealed_ _showed signs of inhibited emotional recognition as well as an inability to create facial indications."_

"What." What was _it_ doing in a dictionary. Curious, she continued reading,

" _Found several_ _sealed_ _in the city within the span of two weeks. The telling symptoms of a sealed was easy to distinguish amongst the ordinary people, especially with the lack of interfering signals commonly noticed outside of the barrier. In total, there are_ _ **twelve**_ _sealed within the city."_

"...Twelve." Sealed? What are those?

 _"As it was theorized, and consequently discovered to be the case in reality, the_ _sealed_ _hold an entity within them, consuming the emotional capabilities of its containers. Much like what the reported Apathy Syndrome is, the sealed is a more functioning Apathy Syndrome victim; capable of recognition and reaction but actions are dampened to the point of being_ ** _dead_** _to the world."_

She was getting a bit unsettled about the things she read. And with how unmistakable _Hamuko's_ handwriting was, her roommate was the only one who could have written the things she was reading.

 _"Relatives of the_ _sealed_ _I interviewed comment that the_ _sealed_ _started showing signs of Apathy Syndrome, albeit it a bit weaker in effect, weeks after what everyone knew as the start of the distortion. Thinking it wasn't just a case of bad flu, the symptoms grew more dire as time passed by. However they couldn't be admitted as victims of Apathy Syndrome due to how '_ _functional'_ _the_ _sealed_ _was."_

 _"Functional was a term they were leery of accepting. Apathy Syndrome victims were termed as 'walking corpses' but the_ _sealed_ _was capable of moving and following orders. They didn't seemed to differ from any person except for the blatant lack of emotional response and facial recognition and the undeniable eerie 'air' around them. The 'eerie air' can be attributed to the entity 'sealed' within them, fully maturing as time passed by."_

 _"The mystery of the entities 'sealed' within them are still being under investigation. Hoping with the turn of the next school year, I may be able to start in my investigation to understand the mechanics of the barrier and the tower I had previously reported."_

"What is this? You know what, I don't want to know." She tucked it back into the dictionary and stood up from her seat, intent on returning it back in her roommate's drawer and going out and visit her club mate's dictionary instead.

Just what was Hamuko doing to make her write those and hid it under her desk?

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Kinda late, especially with having dropped off from the rest of the world for almost two months. But hey, better late than never, right?**

 **Anyway, I'm going to update my fics in this week or within the next week. A month of RL has taken a toll on me, not gonna lie.**


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